


Plague of Hunters

by 3gghead



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Developing Relationship, Expanding the Supernatural Universe, Friends to Lovers, Multi, Pack Bonding, Plot, Slow Burn, Theo cares about Liam the way he did in season 6
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:49:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23981860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3gghead/pseuds/3gghead
Summary: Trying their best to adapt to the departure of the older members of the McCall pack, the new seniors have agreed to fend for themselves for as long as possible. It begins when Liam is attacked by a group of hunters they've never seen before and a rise in supernatural creature attacks across the city enter the pack's radar.Once again, the pack faces threats of the supernatural first hand. His extended experiences working alongside Theo creates the threat of unearthing a truth he had never considered.[Plot driven, slow burn]
Relationships: Chris Argent/Melissa McCall, Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, others
Comments: 22
Kudos: 42





	1. First encounter

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic so I apologise if it has flaws like each chapter too long/short, too wordy, too gradual, etc. I'd love to hear feedback so I can improve.
> 
> The ship this focuses on is between Liam/Theo, starting with how things are between them left off from season 6. It's slow-burn and the interactions between characters are supposed to be as realistic as possible. It also heavily explores the world of the supernaturals. For now it's about conflict with hunters, but who knows what else might happen...
> 
> Also it has a violence warning since there will be mentions of blood and gore, but it's teen wolf so what's new.
> 
> Enjoy!

Another cocked shotgun sounded behind him. Three hunters stood at his front. Two displayed their wolfsbane dipped knives held in steady experienced hands. Crickets chirped around them, their sound mingling with the thumping heartbeat of the hunters. Surrounded and knowing he could do nothing but bare his fangs while his eyes emitted a distressed yellow glow, Liam riled himself and waited for the first blow.

His anger was delayed by shock as the loud echo of a gunshot rung around the road and into the forest, so sudden he couldn’t gather his scattered senses fast enough to tell where it had been fired. Liam let out something between a grunt and a short growl as he was thrown forward nearly to his knees. 

Feral adrenaline hampered the pain and he roared, leaping for one of the hunters. His furious bushy face was sprayed with blood a moment later as he knocked a slashed hunter into another, not before the huntress manoeuvred herself and swiped his upper arm with her blade. The radiating moon practically pulsed in the sky, sending waves through his boiling veins. Blood seeped into the fabric of his sleeve unnoticed. Shotgun fires rang around him, most missing as he moved swiftly and in the dark away from the headlights of the hunters’ cars.

Liam was surrounded by hunters far more brutal than the amateurs and volunteers for Monroe’s cause. They seemed to be aware of limitations to a werewolf's healing process. By weakening him with shotgun wounds it would be easier to gore him with weapons baptised with wolfsbane. Additional to this, they were unworried confronting him on a full moon.

What seemed to be common for him was the absence of the notion that he would not survive. Even now, doubled over from a gash in his abdomen, resting most of his weight on the leg that wasn’t stuck with an arrow, Liam bellowed and threw with full force a shotgun into the face of a hunter gripping a crossbow, while a silver dagger sunk into his shoulder from behind. 

It had been a month since the anuk-ite and Scott's long anticipated departure for college. He’d left the safety of supernaturals in Beacon Hill in the hands of reliable allies, and somehow managed to leave a relatively solid sense of security among most of those he left behind. Liam returned to a school that, like it had done so plenty of times before, returned from the unthinkable to a reasonably mellow state. Even so, Liam could tell classmates were disconcerted by him, though without fear to drive action there seemed to be a unanimous agreement to ignore the insane concept that supernaturals lived among them. Luckily, Liam's parents still acted oblivious.

Blood thrummed in his ears as he emitted a roar, reaching around to grab the huntress who'd backstabbed him and threw her to the ground. His clothes were shredded where he had been shot and rent, dull red painting the zipper of his jacket. His face was contorted with grisly werewolf features, and for the following few minutes he fought like a feral beast, concentrating on using the scent of blood as a drive force, his desperation becoming increasingly evident with the rising brutality of his fighting. He bellowed at a few wounded hunters retreating to their vehicles.

Eventually the wolfsbane started to take its effect and the adrenaline wore off. Wisps of purple smoke spilled out of his mouth with each heavy exhale. Slowly his sideburns started to recede and his forehead smoothed over. 

A remaining hunter approached him, blood dripping from his nose. He aimed his pistol at Liam’s head. Liam shuddered, falling back on his knees, one hand gripping the arrow stick jutting out of his thigh and the other now outreached above his head, breathing shallow as wolfsbane thickly swaddled his senses.

The pistol went off, the sound echoing down the road. Liam flew back from the force of the bullet. His body lay motionless, returned the form of a highschool kid. There was a human cry and blood spattered the ground as a wolf barked and snarled.


	2. Clinic

With his head thrown back, a roar exploding from his throat, Liam writhed on the cold metal slab. On trying to lift his hands to the searing pain in his chest he clinked the chains connected to his wrist restraints. His wide eyes glowed and burned with tears. 

“Hold still, I almost got it.” Someone said impatiently above him.

After a moment the burning stopped, but the ache strewn across his limbs stayed. His chest rose and fell weakly as he lifted his head, shaking and gasping air through his gaping mouth, to see his shirt partially ripped open exposing small bullet hole on the right side of his chest.

Liam laid his head back down with a thunk, overwhelmed with fatigue he was unused to. He could see the familiar clutter of the inside of the Beacon Hills animal clinic. His blood stained jacket rested on a stool. He saw a familiar form standing cross-armed staring down at him a few inches from him. It was Theo. 

Liam nearly started on seeing him. He moved his arms with the intent of helping himself into a sitting position, rattling the chains of his wrist restraints and heaving his chest to partially rise before falling down with a metallic echo. A pained groan escaped from his lips.

“What the hell.” Liam said breathily, cringing at the pain. 

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Theo asked, unmoving.

Liam could feel his wound starting to weave itself together. Accusingly he stared at Theo and said, “Why were you stabbing me?”

“Because I had to remove a bullet from your chest,” he said nodding to a tray beside the table.

A pair of bloodied tweezers and a silver bullet coated with globs of blood sat in a small metal bowl.

Liam raised his eyebrows at Theo and rattled the chains of his restraints.

Theo smirked slightly. “Those were to keep you from killing me as I saved your life.”

"A little help?"

Theo moved forward to unhinge the restraints. He looked no different to the way he looked a month earlier. His well kept hair had recently been trimmed at the back. As he normally did, he appeared serious but held an air of detachment. His tight-fitting grey shirt was visibly mucky and smudged with dirt. Liam could smell the sweat and blood. 

Once the restraints were removed Liam attempted to rise again, holding his weight on his elbows, only to lie back from the pain.

“Why aren’t I healing?” He hissed, gently grazing his fingers over his stomach, brought up to his eyes smeared with blood.

“It’s probably the wolfsbane. It won’t heal until it's removed.” Theo replied. Liam breathed deeply to ease the pain and contemplated the ceiling with his eyebrows furrowed. His hair, much shorter than the last time they'd seen each other, was sticking to his forehead in strands and his eyes had stopped glowing. Theo stared at him until Liam met his eyes.

“You should probably wait for the doctor before you try to do anything.” He said. 

“Why were you there?”

“I could hear the fighting from a distance so I parked my car to see what was happening.” Liam watched Theo reapply an isolated stance. “You gonna tell me what happened?”

Liam didn't feel like confiding in Theo. To start, he couldn't put into words an explanation for the way he was feeling. Despite preparing for it, Scott's absence made him feel defenceless. He wasn't sure how he'd cope if another threat arrived in Beacon Hills, and a group of strange expert werewolf hunters closing in was the last thing he needed.

His thoughts all but included the fact that Theo had saved his life.

“I was attacked out of nowhere by a group of hunters. I couldn't recognise any of them."

"Why were you out driving in the middle of the night?"

Liam met Theo's gaze."Why were you?"

Theo smirked, looked to the clock on the wall and said, “The doctor should be here to open up shop in twenty minutes.” Turning to the clock himself Liam saw that it was early morning. He had to get home. Unfortunately his brow was furrowed for a reason other than the fact that he'd have to explain why his stepfather's car was on the side of the road somewhere near Beacon Lake.

Trying to raise himself he winced from a sharp pain in his side. As long as Theo remained standing nearby he resisted the temptation to cradle it. 

“You okay?” Theo asked, taking a light step forward, apparently able to sense that the pain was worse than he was letting on.

“Yeah.” Liam said, shaking his head and closing his eyes dismissively. 

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The same day before first period, standing by their lockers, Liam listened to Mason talk while avoiding making eye contact with those staring at him as they walked by.

“Deaton’s going to be gone for a couple of weeks. Didn’t you know?” 

“No. It would’ve been great to know that yesterday.” Liam muttered, raising his sleeve slightly to see small spots of blood on the bandage around his arm

Mason’s eyes widened. “Woah. Dude, that looks bad. Why aren't you healing? What the hell happened last night?”

Deaton hadn't come to open the Beacon Hills animal clinic. Theo left shortly before he was supposed to arrive and Liam was made to resort to wrapping his stapled wounds himself. He was totally unused to his wounds healing at the speed of a human's, and his scrappy job was becoming increasingly noticeable.

Liam rarely lied to Mason, but he preferred to tell fragments of the truth rather than the whole story when he wanted to avoid drawing implications.

“About half a dozen hunters surrounded me on the road last night. Their cars were blocking the road so I couldn’t get past.” His eyes looked anywhere but Mason's.

"Monroe?" Mason suggested. Liam gave a short nod. "Probably."

“Where was it?”

“It was near to the lake.”

“Why were you going there?”

Corey walked up to them, placed his hand on Mason's shoulder and the two exchanged a smile.

“I had to get out of the house." Liam continued. "I took my stepdad's car and tried going up to the lake myself."

"Well, why aren't you healing?" Mason asked, his good nature unable to mask the concern in his voice.

"Because they used wolfsbane, on like, all of their weapons." 

There was a long pause. Liam noticed and glanced at Mason, who was staring at him.

"What?" Liam asked.

"Nothing dude. You just looked really tense just now." Mason replied.

Liam had been avoiding eye contact the entire conversation and probably resembled a guilty individual being interrogated. He knew Mason recognised the themes of Liam's thoughts based on his body language and could connect the dots that Liam had been affected, and that the truth he was holding back was dire.


	3. Hospital

Theo lowered his sun visor, keeping one hand on the wheel as he drove past the animal clinic and continued north. His mind was unable to amble far before one memory was brought back to focus. 

A week ago as he was trying to fall asleep parked outside the tattoo parlour, he couldn’t help perking his ears up to the horrified screams of someone nearby. With a quiet exhale of vexation through of his nose he compelled himself to get up. Zipping his jacket and combing a hand through hair he walked stealthily over to where he'd heard the cry.

It had been a man's voice. Around the corner of the building, a few paces from where Theo stood, a large body lay sprawled out on the floor. Theo didn't recognise him, but his gloves and the visible excessive arm tattoos suggested he worked at the tattoo parlour. 

Balanced in a crouch on the balls of its feet, half concealing the body from his view, was a bald creature extending the length of its upper body over the large unmoving man. It had silvery pink skin stretched over its muscles, spine and scapula like a partially transparent latex glove. Inky black veins snaked across the shiny globe of the back of its head like thick rubber filling cracks between concrete.

It flexed its gnarled fingers, and vivid green smoke poured out of every orifice in the man’s face, drawn towards the creature before evaporating instantaneously. It was only for a few seconds and the moment the creature started to withdraw, Theo hastily rushed back to his truck and started the engine. He knew that sleeping that night was hopeless. 

He suspected the creature was an escapee of Eichen house when the building had lost power almost a year ago thanks to Scott and his pack. He’d only told Chris Argent about it, who was also unable to recognise the species. It hadn’t appeared anywhere since, and there was no report of a murder or a missing person. Theo was prepared to gladly accept what he'd seen as a dream.

He checked the small digital clock on his dashboard. He was right on time, swerving carefully into the high school parking lot and stopping near the exit that he knew Liam would come out of.

A moment later Liam appeared among the students flooding out of the exits. He was alone and seemed to almost immediately recognise Theo’s truck parked nearby. He did a double take, then marched over, squinting at Theo, his drawn brow making him look extra grumpy.

“What are you doing here?" He asked into the car window, releasing the tension in his face after relieving his eyes from the dazzling sun.

"I'm taking you to the hospital." Theo replied. 

Pulling a face, Liam said, "I don't have to go to the hospital."

"You sure about that?" Theo asked, staring at trickle of blood that had just started creeping down Liam's bicep. Liam quickly swatted his arm as if he'd spotted a mosquito, smearing the blood on his hand. He looked back at Theo, prickled. 

"I'm grounded anyway, I can't go anywhere. Not until I get my stepdad his car back." 

"You can do that after." 

Liam set his jaw and avoided eye contact, seemingly weighing his choices. Blood trickled down his arm from where it was smeared. Theo glanced away and pretended to scrutinise his windshield wipers, cutting off what ever else Liam had to say. He knew pushing it would just make Liam annoyed and less likely to come. Eventually though, Liam rolled his eyes and conceded, walking around the side of the car and getting into the passenger seat, shoving his backpack to his feet.

“I figured out Deaton wasn’t in so you couldn’t fix your wolfsbane problem.” Theo said as they drove toward the hospital.

“Who told you?”

Theo hesitated for a second. “I asked around. Are you grounded because you came home covered in blood or because you stole your stepdad's car?" 

"You think I'd let my mom see me like that?" Liam scoffed, looking over to Theo before looking down at his hands. "They didn't even know I was gone. I still had to explain that I took the car so they wouldn't think it was stolen."

"They're making you bring it back?"

Again, Liam turned to look at Theo, whose eyes were stuck to the road. 

"I guess so."

It was possible that Liam was scrutinising his appearance so often because he'd been absent for a for a month. Without showing it, he was silently hoping he wouldn't question why.

When they reached the hospital, Theo noticed Liam nearly collapse when he left the car, probably because his leg wound had reopened. He shuffled ahead of Theo into the hospital stubbornly before Theo could offer him any kind of support.

Once inside the hospital, they searched for Melissa McCall. The hallways were well lit and bustling with pink, blue and white coloured staff. Theo ignored the image of his sister watching him from the end of the hallway. Repressing a shudder, he got Melissa’s attention as she made to pass by them.

Seeing Liam’s condition, she pursed her lips, passing her current errand onto another nurse and hurrying Liam into a room. Theo watched them until they turned a corner and vanished from sight, then went back to his car.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Let’s see what we’ve got here" Melissa said, peeling back the botched bandaging. “Yikes. What happened?”

“I got attacked by hunters last night. I- I’m not healing, it’s probably because of the wolfsbane.” Liam said.

“I’m guessing you don’t want your parents knowing about this.” Melissa said as she sidled toward the partially opened door.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Melissa looked as if she was about to say something else when Chris Argent opened the door before Melissa could grab the handle. He held a slightly crumpled bag in his hand, and one wouldn’t require a werewolf’s keen sense of smell to tell there was food tucked inside. 

“Hi”, Melissa said, clearly very pleased on seeing him, tucking a strand of curly black hair behind her ear before kissing him. Smiling, Argent set the bag on the top of the white end table by the bed. He and Melissa gazed at each other for a few seconds before turning their attention back to Liam, who was staring at them pointedly.

“Those are some nasty looking wounds there.” Argent said regarding him. “Hunters?”

“Did Mason tell you?” Liam replied.

“Yeah, Mason messaged me after you told him. I’m surprised you didn’t inform me right after it happened.”

“Do you know how to treat wolfsbane?” Melissa asked Argent, gently lifting Liam’s shirt sleeve and dabbing the outside of the wound, drawing back the napkin to show Argent the traces of purple within the blood.

“You have to burn it out, right?” Liam said sulkily. "I remember Deaton saying-" He trailed off at Melissa's intense stare.

“Liam.” She said flatly. “If you knew how to treat yourself, why didn’t you do it hours ago?”

Liam might have told Melissa the truth if Argent wasn’t standing right beside her. The truth being, accepting that he was hurt meant his attackers were a real threat. He knew it was selfish not to respond immediately so that he could deny the duty Scott had left him with, especially since everybody else was determined to do their part.

“Clearly they weren’t expending much of their supply on the weapons they laced. Even purple wolfsbane is extremely dangerous with certain levels of dosage.” Argent remarked. While digging around in his pockets for a lighter his phone chimed. "Excuse me." He handed Melissa the lighter and left the room.

"Open wounds like this require proper stitching, not stapling, Liam. You're lucky you didn't bleed out." Melissa said holding out a cloth to him "Here, put this in your mouth."

Liam looked up at her, alarmed. She raised her eyebrows until he took the cloth tentatively.

The cloth muffled his agonised screams as Melissa burned with a steady hand every slit and gash the silver knives of the hunters had opened, wiping away the bubbling purple muck that was left on the surface. Once it was done, Liam had left the metal bars on the sides of the bed twisted.

As Liam shakily wiped a cloth over his forehead and Melissa kindly offered him a glass of water, Argent reentered the room, visibly more serious than before. He was followed by Theo. 

"The others are on their way." Argent announced.

"Why?" Liam asked.

"Because there is much more reason for concern than anyone's letting on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise if there isn't much Thiam yet. This is supposed to be a Thiam fic, but there's also a storyline. This is the pace it'll be folks ಥ_ಥ
> 
> More Thiam? There's just enough? Please share your preferences!


	4. Head-to-Head, Heart-to-Heart

Mason and Corey were shown into the room. Liam made eye contact with Mason, briefly exchanging a knowing look that communicated that Liam was fine. He and Corey took their place near the door.

Melissa piped up from the doorway saying, "You can have this room for twenty minutes, but no longer or else someone's gonna notice." She slipped her head back out of the room and closed the door.

Theo, crossing his arms in a closed off manner, spoke up.

“Does anyone know why we called a meeting?”

“I called the meeting." Argent said. His pale blue eyes scoured the faces in the room. "I just received a call from one of Gerard's old associates. 

She's a huntress, named Sadie Lin. As far as I know she's still one of the leaders to a group of hunters that are as influential, if not more than, Gerard's was. They were originally based in Zheng Zhou, but it looks like they've come to Beacon Hills."

Corey asked, "W- What did she say?"

"She offered for me to join them. For some reason, they wanted me to tell them Liam's location."

"Why?" Theo asked, uncrossing his arms.

"My guess is because he's closest to Scott, and he's always been a target."

"Wait, so Sadie- these guys- are a real threat. What do we do?" Mason asked.

"I think we need to keep an eye out. My guess is they're here for Scott's pack, which includes all of you. The only time any of us have encountered them is outside of the city. We haven't had any other visuals." When Argent directed his look to Liam, everyone else turned to look at him too. 

On realising this Liam looked around confusedly. Rubbing his arm awkwardly, he said, "Uh...Did she say anything else?"

"No. She didn't make any explicit threats." Argent replied. "Corey, do you want to say something?"

Turning his anxious brown eyes around the room, Corey said, “I also just got a call from an unknown number. My phone was on silent so it went to voicemail.”

He looked at Liam. Seeing him nod, Corey opened up his voicemail and placed it on speaker mode.

'You have one new voicemail,' the automated voice said. 

“Hello, whoever this is. Someone from the list of contacts Scott put in my phone. Earlier today one of you told me about some cannibalistic beast you wanted me to take care of. I just wanted to say, I've got it here with me.”

A loud hiss reverberated from the phone.

“I didn’t know it made that noise. There was definitely one of these things from Eichen down in the supernatural section from when I was committed there.”

Mason and Liam shared a look from across the room that affirmed that they had the same idea of who was on the phone.

“I’m sure you’re eager to take a look at this thing. Definitely a shapeshifter of some kind. It can’t seem to choose a form to stick to. Whoever you are, do tell the others to find me in my usual lair. I have this thing wrapped like a Christmas present. This is Peter Hale, by the way."

The unpeturbed tone of the man's voice had made that easy enough to guess.

"Wait, what was he talking about? What's this about a cannibal?" Theo asked.

"We saw it." Mason said. "It was after our study group session in the library today. Corey and I were driving by the bowling alley when we noticed that in this narrow path someone was crouching over a body."

"I went to take a look," Corey continued, "and when I got closer I could see that this guy was- um- eating the person beneath him. I know it wasn't a wendigo because when it turned around the face was completely normal."

"It looked human." Mason added.

"Yeah. He was tall, had a large beard-"

"Tattoos?" Theo asked suddenly.

"No tattoos. Mason and I left, we were freaked out. We called Chris- I mean, Mr. Argent and-"

"Argent's fine. And I'm the one who called Hale." Argent said.

Liam and Theo looked to one another, then to the others.

"Okay, so why didn't anyone tell us?"

"It doesn't matter now." Argent replied. "That problem's been sorted. What we should be worrying about is Lin and her group of hunters. If my suspicions are correct Liam, you're a target, and they've tried to get you before. I recommend you stay indoors when you can and stay near people."

"Liam?" Mason said.

Liam stopped chewing his lip to reply in the affirmative. The meeting was over and one by one they left the room.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"They were waiting for you to make a decision in there."

Theo committed to driving Liam to his abandoned car like he had pledged, and it was his only ride since the others were going a different way. Liam's face must have betrayed his feelings for Theo to have interjected with the very subject just now.

He remembered how Mason, Corey, and even Argent had looked at him expectantly, as if he had something to add to the very serious conversation. An objective, something he'd already prepared or at least considered since his attack.

"I don't know what they wanted me to say." Liam said staring out of the window. He wanted to avoid talking about it. Theo didn't push the subject.

It was still light out, but the sun was less harsh. He absentmindedly fiddled with the handle to the compartment in front of him and opened it for a moment before it was snapped shut by Theo, who withdrew his hand immediately.

Liam threw both hands above his head. He felt like robber caught with his hand inside the glass display. He looked over to Theo, driving in silence appearing as if nothing had happened. 

Liam had seen the contents of the compartment. Theo's beanie, his wallet. His plastic bag of toiletries.

Looking in the the rearview mirror Liam noticed a few mismatched pillows lining the floor. He paused, then awkwardly with his mouth closed coughed into his fist.

He opened his mouth to speak with one finger raised but couldn't get a word out before Theo started.

"I'm living in my car." He said plainly.

"Since when?" Liam asked falteringly.

"Ever since you brought me out of the ground. I have trouble finding places to park where deputies won't eventually find me. That's why I was out there that night."

Liam, who was watching him as he spoke, saw his lips move into a smirk.

"I just wanted a good night's rest."

Liam paused. He realised in that moment that he'd never considered Theo's home life, or his business in general. He was Scott's age but hadn't departed to college like the others. He disappeared for months at a time, and now it was revealed he was apparently sleeping in his car. 

Liam was silent for a beat, and then he spoke.

"I... can't be the new alpha.

Theo's hands shifted their grip on the wheel. "Why not?"

"Because I'll never be Scott! I don't know what to do if there's a threat. We got through because nothing was ever able to shake him. I- I'm not like him. And I know I can't count on myself for making good decisions."

"You made the decision to bring me back."

Liam stared at his hands. "Yeah, I'm still wondering if that was good judgement."

Glancing over, Liam saw that Theo's expression hadn't changed. He chewed his lip. Eventually he sighed through his nose and turned to look at Theo.

"Thank you for saving my life. 

I didn't say the whole truth about why I was out that night. I was so anxious about everyone leaving and it was getting hard to control myself because of the full moon. I was completely alone and-" He threw his head back in his seat. "Maybe... Scott was my anchor."

Liam noticed Theo staring at him from the corner of his eye.

"Or Malia. Or any of them! I just- I can't deal with everyone thinking I'm ready to be like them."

They pulled up by the beginning of the path that lead to Beacon Lake. Mr. Geyer's car was within view, parked right where Liam had left it a few meters down the beginning of the path. As Liam undid his seatbelt, Theo placed an arm on his bicep. Liam froze in his tracks.

"You don't have to fill anyone's shoes right now." Theo said with a firm gentleness in his voice. 

Liam looked up and down his face, nodding. They bumped fists and he exited the truck after checking for oncoming traffic.

As he trudged toward the car, hands in his pockets, he looked back to see Theo wave from the truck that remained parked by the road. 

The possibility that the hunters had been waiting for him to retrieve the car brought his walking to a halt. The car looked untouched. Liam smelled the air for a human scent and keened his ears for anything that moved within the forest. Deciding the coast was clear, Liam walked confidently toward the car. 

A few paces from the car he felt something against his foot. He looked down and saw his foot caught in a tripwire. 

Time slowed. His heart skipped a beat. He gasped for air, frozen in place. How had he missed the tripwire?

Strong arms grabbed his waist and spun him around, thrusting him backward right as a deafening explosion erupted from where the car stood. A forceful wave of heat blew over him as he fell to the ground, blowing up sand and dust into his eyes. Leaning up on one elbow as small rocks tore through his skin, he shielded his eyes from the blast with his forearm. 

After a small eternity, breathing heavily, he opened his eyes. The steering wheel had landed less than a meter from his head. 

Liam slowly lowered his protectively raised arm in a state of total disbelief. When he tried to lay back and rest on both elbows, he came to the realisation that Theo was positioned right above him, his body blocking the view of the explosion site. One of his hands were still tucked under Liam's waist.

Theo briskly stood, reaching out a hand for Liam. Despite his hair being messy and his sweater covered in dust, Theo held Liam's shoulders and asked whether he was okay. 

Liam barely heard him. He hardly noticed Theo's expression change as he became attentive to something. 

"Do you hear that?"

Liam shook his head, taking a few steps back, raising his hands to his face as he stared at the small fires and bits of metal scattered around them. Theo grabbed his wrist and started making for his truck. 

Even through the thundering of his own heart in his ears, Liam could hear the crunching of gravel under heavy tires getting closer.


	5. The Escapee of Eichen

In the most lavish and expensive neighbourhood downtown, the pavements were lined with patterned cutouts of smooth grey stone and the hedges sitting by the entrances to the well kept buildings were void of a stray twig or leaf to disrupt their perfect image. The residents behaved different to the rest of Beacon Hills, as if there was something in the air where they lived that could be contracted and inevitably turn anyone into a high maintenance sociopath that socially distanced themselves from the rest of society because where they lived didn’t smell like $200 dollar scent sticks. 

This is what Chris Argent deduced from his surroundings as he walked toward Peter Hale’s building, having passed yet another woman rolled in designer accessories walking a Pomeranian identical to the four he’d already seen.

It was eleven o'clock at night. He entered the marble floored lobby where he was greeted by a man working at the front desk, who smiled and approached Argent, blocking his route to the lift. Argent resisted the temptation to break the man’s nose as he was looked up and down, the man's gaze lingering on Argent’s worn combat boots, before trailing up past the ten year old jeans, the plain white shirt and the black loose-fit windbreaker dating back to the 70s. He looked like a character from the walking dead had walked into the land of sweets.

When Argent tried to sidestep the front desk attendee the man silently copied his movement. His eyes were slightly widened, his closed mouth in a tight broad smile that creased the edges of his face, which Argent would’ve found profoundly eerie if he wasn’t being riled by the implications of the man's proceedings. The attendee continued to motion with a straight arm to his desk where the open visitor registration book lay. His face tilted down and he stared at the bits of dried mud crumbling off Argent’s boots onto the floor. 

“What if I’m not a visitor?” Argent asked. The attendee didn't answer and remained very still with his arm still lifted.

Filling out the details, Argent wrote ‘business meeting’ under ‘reason for visit’, smacking the pen tip into the paper before carelessly dropping it and letting it roll away, with him treading toward the lift not before giving the front desk worker a discourteous look.

On reaching the top floor he saw the door to Peter Hale’s penthouse apartment. On display in the hallway were vases depicting such images as thin clouds, tree branches and flowers, dragons, all a deep blue on a white background. Their famous appearances made it easy for Argent to recognise the blue and white pottery trend originating from the Tang dynasty in ancient China.

Argent pressed the doorbell button, which created a chiming sound from within the apartment. He waited for ten seconds, and without receiving an answer rang it again. He went unheard for a second time.

“Hale.” Argent said loudly into the door. Looking around he noticed a security camera above him pointing at him.

Less than ten minutes ago Argent had confirmed on the phone with Peter that he was going to be arriving to inspect the creature being held in his apartment. He was expected.

After another minute of silence and no return to his calls, he instinctually knew something had happened. Taking another glance at the camera, he reached for the door handle. The door opened. 

On entering, he immediately caught sight of Peter, who was sitting leaning against his couch grasping at his throat, blood leaking down his neck and anointing his hands, his mouth wide open as he choked on air like a fish out of water.

Argent took a few steps toward Peter, who raised a dripping bloody hand in front of him, signalling that he was fine, despite now looking like a murder victim begging his murderer to spare him.

Argent analysed the surroundings. A pile of gift wrapping fabric lay on the floor by a pillar, the end of it still attached to the spool. It seemed as though that was where Peter had been keeping the creature tied up. The fabric showed no signs of being torn or cut.

Behind him, the choking became dragging breaths as Peter’s fast healing allowed his voice box to function. While handing him a towel Argent looked around the spacious ornate apartment. 

“Why on earth were you keeping it up here?” He asked.

“I saw it… behind the counter… in the lobby.” Peter gasped, pressing the cloth to his neck. “Nowhere else.. to keep it…”

He took a few more wheezing breaths, before continuing, “It was easy to fight… not strong. Have no idea how… it managed to get out. I think… it can shrink.”

Argent suddenly whipped his head around to Peter. “Where did you say you found it?” He questioned him urgently.

“Front desk… downstairs-“ Peter was cut off by a coughing fit. When he was finished he closed his eyes and sighed. 

“Could you be ever so kind as to get me a glass of water?” He asked raspily, before realising Argent had vanished from the apartment. 

Argent was busy waiting for the lift. After getting in he pulled out his gun, positioning himself behind the doors.

The clues had come together back in the apartment. A shapeshifter able to shift and slip out of its restraints. No missing persons reports about the man he'd apparently killed according to Theo. 

Not a wendigo, a monster wearing a human suit. It's current disguise was the front desk employee.

The lift opened twice before reaching the ground floor. Argent tucked his gun into his jacket, ignoring the strange looks the residents gave him. He waited for everyone to have left out the front exit before slowly making his way toward the front desk, both hands gripping his gun that was pointed to the ground. The attendee was nowhere in sight. 

He searched the entire lobby and the area surrounding the building, but the creature had escaped into the night. 

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Seven hours earlier, Theo’s blue truck was swerving roughly off the road that went through the woods and onto the main road that headed into town. In the range of a few minutes it was driving within a populated area, surrounded by other cars.

Theo kept his eyes on his sideview mirror, watching the cars behind them.

On looking over, he watched Liam rake both hands though his broom chopped short hair. He watched with wide eyes ahead of him, unfocused.

Theo tried to consider how he felt. Liam had a target on his back and the reason was out of their reach. They only knew that the hunters wanted him in particular, and something about an exploded car didn’t scream mercy.

Suddenly Liam reached into his schoolbag and pulled out his phone, fumbling with it as he entered the code.

Theo glanced over, seeing him enter the phone app. “Don’t call anyone.” He said.

Liam breathed shakily. “I’m calling Mason.”

Before he could access Mason’s number, it all went dark and the white letters ‘Mom’ shone on the screen.

Holding the phone in one hand and a fistful of hair in the other, for a few seconds Liam stared at his phone, his breathing hitched as his panic increased. His brow was rumpled with anxiety.

“I- I can’t do this. What do I say? I don’t-“

Theo had looked rapidly from the road to the phone twice before he made up his mind, now seizing the phone from Liam’s hands and pressing the red button to deny the call.

“Hey, what the hell?” Liam yelled, startled, grabbing his phone back. He glared at Theo, who could only glance at him for a second as he navigated their way around a street corner. He kept his eyes glued to the sideview mirror while his expression remained serious.

“Why did you do that?” Liam said, holding out both hands in an angry gesture.

“Because they’re tapping your phone.” Theo replied, briefly glancing over again. 

“What are you talking about?” Liam asked. “Are you serious? You made me ghost my mom because-”

“Think about it. Think about a month ago, when Scott, Lydia and the rest of us pretended to leave for good. We thought we were making Gerard believe that they were hiding out in the zoo so they could find Jiang and Tierney inside the armoury. Didn’t they start the security system because they caught their scent behind a door? All they found was a piece of skin.” 

Liam raised his eyes to Theo’s face. His chisled jaw clenched and unclenched and his brow was still furrowed, but his eyes weren’t hostile anymore. 

“What’s your point?” He asked.

“Gerard knew they were there. They were never going to be fooled by us pretending to leave, but they knew our plan, even when we were careful.”

After a period of silence Theo glanced over to Liam. He was silently chewing his lower lip as he usually did when he was thinking. He wasn’t visibly anxious anymore, his mind now away from the topic of the explosion.

“They had an advantage.” He eventually said.

“That’s right. They must have heard our calls to one another, or tracked our location.”

Liam was silent, and Theo thought he had been successful until he spoke again. 

“…It also means they knew it was just us at the zoo.” He said.

Theo looked over to him. “Look, you probably managed to punch me an equal amount of times as I-“

“If I really am their main target, I can’t go home.” Liam broke in. Theo could hear his heart rate rising again.

“Liam, they’re not allowed to just kill people anymore, without the anuk-ite the police will—“

“No, I- I seriously can’t go home, what if they know where I live?”

“Calm down—“

“What if my mom thinks I’m relapsing? I might be taken out of school-“

“Okay, what? Hey, Liam,” Theo said, slowing the truck. Liam jumped up, looking behind the seat out the back window.

At this point, Theo knew that it was more than fear for himself driving Liam. From past experience, he could confidently guess that Liam was more worried about the safety of the people around him. It was a concept that Theo was still trying to understand.

“Why are you stopping?” Liam asked in a distressed tone, waving his hand frantically to emphasise that they should be going faster. “They’re going to catch up to us.”

The truck came to a halt. Theo turned to Liam.

“They're not following us. We drove a full loop and none of the same cars were behind us the entire time.”

Liam stubbornly looked back out the window. Seeing that what he said couldn’t convince him, Theo looked down, before looking up again to say something.

He was cut off by Liam, who said, “The animal clinic. I can hide out there since it’s empty.”

“The animal clinic? What, you’re going sleep over there? It’s not even the most secure place there is.”

“I- I don’t know, maybe Deaton has something, something that can make me turn invisible like Corey. Maybe a potion, or—”

“You do realise that Deaton isn’t a wizard, right?” Theo said, staring very seriously at him.

Liam rolled his eyes at Theo’s comment. “Just take me there.”

An idea of where Liam could stay instead crossed his mind, but Theo stopped himself before suggesting it.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

They entered through the backdoor of the clinic, the same place both had left from of that morning. Liam looked around the room with his hands tucked in his pockets. The stapler and bandages were still sitting on the bloodstained metal table where Liam had carelessly left them. He saw Theo staring at the objects profoundly.

“I should probably clean that up.” He said before pausing, his ears catching a noise. Theo had also stopped walking behind him.

Both eyes were set on the door leading to the waiting room. The sound of something repetitively hitting the ground could be heard coming from inside.

He turned around, meeting Theo’s gaze, and both began moving toward the door. 

The thumping continued. Flexing his fingers to unveil his claws, Liam slowly twisted the handle and let the door fall open. With Liam leading, they slowly walked forward until they reached a corner. 

Positioning themselves so they both had access to see around the corner, they saw the source of the noise. A man was kneeling in the center of the room, his back facing where they stood, slamming his fists into the floor. His hands weren't bloody, yet the stone flooring was starting to crack. He wasn't making a noise. 

Liam felt Theo's hand on his shoulder pulling him firmly. He turned, Theo's face a few inches from his.

"I know him. That's the creature Mason and Corey saw." Theo said in a low voice.

"What are you talking about? Peter has it." Liam whispered back.

Theo looked away with an annoyed expression, peeking his head around the corner to take another look at the man. Liam's eyes followed his face as Theo returned to his position.

"I know it's him because I watched it do something with the actual guy."

"Wha- why didn't you tell anyone you saw it?" Liam hissed.

"Because," Theo said low through clenched teeth. "I didn't think it was an issue anymore."

The thumping sound stopped. Together they looked around the corner. 

The man stood facing them, his feet placed over the cracked part of the floor. He stared at them, unmoving.

They both left their hiding place and stood before the creature. The man was bald, had a large beard and wore a white shirt and brown pants underneath a black apron. Tattoos covered his bare muscular arms. He was at least six feet tall.

"Are you sure that's a shapeshifter?" Liam asked, now only half whispering.

"That's him." Theo replied, his eyes starting to glow.

Before he could move, Liam was already in his partial werewolf form running toward him. Jumping to the wall, he propelled himself off his leg and swiped at the man's chest. The man moved back just in time for only his apron and shirt to be ripped open, and went to grab Liam's shoulders when Theo swiped the back of his leg. He fell on one knee, and Theo sharply elbowed him in the side of the head, which snapped to the side with a sharp crack.

The man's head hung limp to the side, the rest of his body motionless but upright. Theo took a few steps back, noticing the laceration on the back of its thigh he'd inflicted wasn't bleeding. Suddenly, the man turned and leapt at Theo, but it was a much shorter woman who was throwing him to the wall. Her face contorted as she let out a loud hiss, scratching at his face and neck.

Theo shoved her away from him and Liam caught her from behind, wrapping his arms around her and linking his hands at the front, keeping her arms pinned to her sides as she writhed and shrieked. It's form changed again, and a tall man with jet black hair thrust his elbows back, forcing Liam's arms apart. The man couldn't do much else before Theo started to slash his torso diagonally, the cuts breaking through the finely ironed office shirt and releasing shreds of fabric everywhere but not a drop of blood. 

Liam's phone buzzed. He quickly drew it out of his pocket, about to chuck it away when he saw on the screen that Mason had sent him several text asking him to call. Suddenly on the screen Mason's name appeared. Liam looked to Theo, who seemed to be managing with the tall man, currently wrestling with it against the wall. He picked up the call.

"Are you on your phone right now?!" Theo yelled from across the room. He growled as he punched the shapeshifter in the face. 

"Liam?" Mason said. "Liam, are you there?"

"Mason, I'm kind of in the middle of something." Liam replied, as Theo snapped the man's neck and the body fell to the floor. Theo looked up, breathing heavily but otherwise unharmed. Liam continued, "It's the monster you saw. It's here at the animal clinic."

The body lying on the floor shifted into a middle aged woman in jogging gear. It stood briskly and threw itself at Theo.

"Are you fighting it right now?" Mason asked, sounding more urgent. "Liam, you have to listen to me- don't let it become its original form."

"What? What are you talking about?" Liam asked, watching a potted plant get knocked over as Theo pushed the woman down and wrestled with her over the seats, the clay pot breaking into pieces.

"I was researching what it was in the library- it's called a Sluagh. It's a shapeshifter that takes the souls of people so it can take their form. Liam, it's only beatable if it's in one of its stolen human forms. Its strength depends on whoever's form it's taking on."

Theo dug his claws into the woman's neck and tore it in open a single swipe. With still no blood, the hollow inside of the torn oesophagus was visible.

"Once it reaches its original form, it'll be stronger and more deadly, and fighting it will put you at risk of getting your soul taken. Liam, how many of its forms have you killed so far?"

Theo was just finishing off another one, a man wearing a shirt with the logo of a charity organisation. 

"Uh, I don't know- four?" Liam said, watching the short woman from before rise from where the last one had fallen. 

"Liam, you can't kill it. You have to disable it- If it's Deaton's office there has to be kanima venom lying around. Liam, go now!"

Liam slammed his phone on the counter of the front desk and sprinted over to Theo, hooking his arm around Theo's elbow just in time before he delivered a final blow to the creature.

"What are you doing?" Theo growled. He let go of the woman who backed away baring her teeth, glowering at them. His shoulders rose and fell with heavy breaths as he turned to Liam, his eyes still glowing yellow and his mouth exhibiting sharp fangs.

"It's gonna run out of human forms. Once it does that, we'll have to fight its true form, which is way more dangerous." Liam explained quickly.

He gasped as he felt a sudden sharp pain in his lower abdomen. It spread through his legs and his knees began to fold under him. Theo quickly caught him under his arms, easing his descent to the floor.

"Liam, are you okay?" Theo asked, his hand wavering over the patch of blood on Liam's shirt that was spreading.

Liam brought a shaking hand to his back to see find he'd been stabbed from behind with a wedge of the broken clay pot. The Sluagh had stabbed close to his spine, which had apparently resulted in paralysing in his legs.

"Theo, no!" Liam yelled, his voice straining as Theo lunged for the Sluagh which still wore the woman's form. He plunged his hand into her chest, moving his hand around as the cracked ribs and organs squelched and snapped, navigating behind her left lung and eventually gripping her beating heart. With a savage grunt he pulled it from her chest and threw it to the ground. The woman's hand shot up to grip Theo's wrist.

Liam looked on as the creatures skin started to change colour, becoming an ivory white with a fleshy pink tint. He watched its hair slowly disappear into its veiny scalp and the woman's face morph into the hideous one of the Sluagh.

Theo grunted in pain as the creature's grip tightened, its strength increasing by the second. Theo swiftly punched its face and kicked it to the ground. As it rose, smoke seemed to come off from its body, making it look transparent, like an apparition.

Liam felt useless as he spectated from the ground Theo's fight with the Sluagh. It was strong, its skin seemingly impenetrable, no longer thin and breakable like a human's. It was slightly larger than Theo, and it had enough strength to throw him against the wall. Theo fought with rigour, but his particular coordinated method of fighting wasn't enough to save him from several hard blows, mainly to his chest. 

Liam in the meantime had pulled out the wedge of pottery with a pained groan, and as fast as he could manage was on his stomach using the palms of his hands to drag himself across the floor to the front desk. He left a long smear of blood on the ground as he moved, his legs like sandbags attached to his torso.

With one last blow the creature had Theo on the ground. Liam saw him spit blood from his mouth and rest his head against the floor with something between a groan escaping his lips.

The Sluagh leant over him, grey vapour practically pouring off its body. As it began to move its hands Theo seized, his mouth opening as he choked and gasped.

Just as the green smoke had started to appear, a hand gripped the creature's shoulder and spun it around. The Sluagh snarled, and in a swift movement a pair of scissors were rammed into its head from under its jaw. 

Before its gnarled hands could be raised to remove it, Liam followed the assault by stabbing it in the eye with a needle. Both the scissors and the needle he'd found at Deaton's desk. Completely unaware as to whether or not kanima venom actually worked on creatures like the Sluagh, Liam watched it breathlessly, his hands clutching the needle still poised for another hit.

Within seconds the Sluagh fell back, sprawled on the floor. Smoke peeled off its skin as if it were freshly charred wood.

Liam shoved it aside. With what little movement his legs had regained, he army crawled over to Theo's body. 

Theo's eyes were half-lidded, their colour returned to the stark blue they normally were. His chest was still.

Liam placed a hand over him, but he already knew that his heart wasn't beating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a long one. Just wanted to put this here incase I can't get any more chapters done for a few days. ( ᵕ̤ ‧̫̮ ᵕ̤ )
> 
> Did you like the description of the Sluagh? It's a preexisting creature in the universe, but I only had a few images to develop its features from. See if you can catch it in one of the episodes.
> 
> Feel free to keep me updated on how it's going with the characters. I'm thinking more Mason and Corey. Oh yeah, and sorry for that ending. (ଵ˛̼ଵ)


	6. Melatonin and Amnesia

Living close to the park, Mason Hewitt made it a habit to go jogging whenever he felt burdened with stress. At some point down the jogging path was a passageway. It went on for some time, winding around before the opening. Mason used the impossibility to see around the curve as motivation to keep running till the end of the tunnel. 

Right by the opening there was a bench. On that bench every morning by six o’clock sat Mr. Berkeley. He was an old man that carried nothing with him but the same book each day and would sit quietly, sometimes reading the book and sometimes holding it in his lap, instead gazing at his surroundings with tranquiliy. He and Mason were acquainted. Even the first time they'd met Mr. Berkeley was naturally friendly. Mason was aware that he had a brain condition of some kind, as every time he’d bother to stop for a conversation, Mr. Berkeley said he'd be having a doctor’s appointment that day.

On this particular morning, Mason started awake, but couldn’t remember what he had been dreaming about. He forced himself out of bed, and on seeing there was no light outside his window, assumed it was just early morning before sunrise. 

He couldn’t shake a strange and uncomfortable feeling on the back of his neck. It was like an ant colony was milling around, running up and down his spine. He pulled on his jogging gear and headed out of the house.

As he jogged the feeling started to lift, and he passed it off as another symptom of stress. He sped up, feeling oddly lighter than usual.

Just before entering the tunnel, he looked up and saw a bright full moon in the sky. 

As he pumped his legs, he was moving so fast he thought he could almost take off from the ground. Puffing like a train he whirled for the opening of the tunnel.

Right as he reached the opening his feet planted themselves to the ground, making him topple forward onto the floor with a very non-weightless thunk. On trying to raise himself pushing up off his hands he discovered that gravity had gotten ten times stronger.

The park grounds were lit up by lamp posts, but an enormous shadow darkened where he lay. Fear crept up his spine as he tilted his head, straining his eyes to gaze upward. His mouth fell open in horror.

Held up in the air was Mr. Berkeley, his head thrown back with a frozen look of torment on his face. A visible hand clutched at his left breast, showing that he’d suffered a heart attack. His book lay on the bench, left open and upside-down, several pages creased as if it had been dropped from a height.

Wrapped around his form was the body of a giant snake, its navy green scales illuminated under the lamp light. Sprouting from the writhing body were nine head, each whiskered face creased into an appalling grimace with flared nostrils and the presence of a split tongue.

Suddenly, all nine heads whipped around and eighteen pairs of large yellow eyes glared down at him. Fear stopped his heart as Mason gasped for air, the atmosphere thinning and eventually non-existent.

Mason sat up in his bed, yelling. He stopped as soon as he was aware of it. He was wide awake. Sunlight fought to get in from behind the blinds.

Despite the heat of September in California, Mason grabbed his jogging gear and was out of the house in a matter of a few minutes. Every time he blinked he could see the headlight yellow eyes of the monster staring at him the way a patch of light is imprinted on one’s eyelids after being stared at for too long.

He passed a few joggers as he went down the path as the sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky. Even then, he couldn’t shake the rising fear as he approached the tunnel.

His nightmare had been vivid, even more than life itself. He could recall more details from the dream than he could in a memory from the day before, as if his senses had been hyper-aware, like those of a wild animal. 

Jogging through the passageway around the bend, his anxiety took a surge. All he could see was the vivid image of Mr. Berkeley's horrified expression in death.

“It was just a dream”, He chanted internally, his hard breathing echoing around him. He thought about stopping but his legs continued to move on autopilot, bringing him closer to the end of the tunnel. He felt the need to see Mr. Berkeley alive and well, unable bear the implications if this wasn’t the case.

Right before the opening he came to the rational conclusion that he was being paranoid over a nightmare. He jogged out of the tunnel, closing his eyes to the sudden brightness. Resting his hands on his knees, panting, he glanced over to the bench.

No one was there. He drifted over, the world moving in slow motion as static roared in his ears. The book lay open on the bench, face down. Mr. Berkeley was nowhere in sight.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Liam also woke that morning with a start, greeted by the sound of his alarm. He rubbed his swollen eyes and got up off the floor cradling a throbbing head that begged for a paracetamol.

The full moon had kept him awake all of the previous night, save for the thirty minutes between the moon going down and his alarm. For eight hours he chanted, did breathing exercises, and when his bloodlust finally started to cease, tried to rest. He couldn’t stay still for more than five minutes. This time around, the reason sat downstairs sipping coffee.

He got dressed. Slowly coming down the stairs he could see his mother through the ajar glass door to the kitchen. He stared at her for a few more seconds before entering.

He sat across from her with a bowl of cereal. She was dressed up for work, engrossed in the novel in her right hand as she lifted the mug to her lips with her left absentmindedly. He ate a spoonful of cereal as his stepfather entered the kitchen.

His mother looked up to smile at Dr. Geyer, placing her book down. Liam abruptly dropped his spoon into the bowl, grabbed his bag and stormed out heading for the front door.

Since the night he’d come home to tell his parents that his stepfather's car had been 'stolen' by the time he went back for it, his mother hadn't talked to him. He'd already overlooked the rules to being grounded and ignored his mother’s call, and for those things he didn't have an argument that would sound reasonable.

Liam stood sulkily outside his house waiting for the school bus. The silent treatment always worked in making him feel guilty. This particular guilt was the same as when he threw a fit at another kid’s birthday party when he was eight. It was the same as when he sat in the police station as his mother was told the charges of the damages to the coach’s car. Whenever he felt guilt like this it meant he’d been acting out again.

It had been going on for a month. 

His headache was still present as he walked into first period. It was Biology with Mrs. Finch. Despite both being aware that the other was a supernatural, neither she nor Liam had discussed anything to that subject since the night of the anuk-ite. Despite the loss of her entire pack, Mrs. Finch remained a part of the school staff. Liam knew that on the inside she was hollow, but on the outside she was still just a Biology teacher.

Liam sat at his desk in an exhausted haze, only half present to the lesson. The noises drowned out as a memory wandered into his focus.

/

Kneeling on the floor of the animal clinic, Liam counted under his breath as he pumped Theo's chest. After reaching thirty, he lowered his ear to listen in for a heartbeat, his own heart pounding harder as he heard nothing. 

Sweat beaded on his brow, instructions from his health class hurtling around his head. He was experiencing the panic of entering a situation, in which despite being trained to handle it, was lacking in emotional preparedness.

Right as he was tilting Theo’s chin with a trembling hand to apply a rescue breath, a faint heartbeat broke through the sound of blood rushing in his ears. 

Sighing heavily with relief, Liam sank down to rest his head in his arms on top of Theo's firm chest, accidentally breathing in the fading scent of his soap.

Liam had been too focused on resuscitating Theo to hear a car pulling up outside, and shortly he could hear quick footsteps coming in from the backroom.

Mason rushed in holding a baseball bat, looking with wide eyes around the sullied reception. He walked over to Liam.

"Is he...?" He asked breathlessly, looking anxiously at Theo's unconscious body. Liam pushed a wet strand of hair out of Theo's face that was sticking to a trail of blood on his forehead.

"He's breathing." He said, looking up to Mason. "Call an ambulance."

With Liam at the shoulders and Mason with the legs, the two carried the Sluagh out the back entrance and dumped it into one of the bins. It appeared to be dead, having gone from emaciated to skeletal, its muscles seeming to have dissolved away while it was letting off smoke. Just to be sure, Liam stabbed it through the eye with a scalpel. 

From the doorway of the entrance he beckoned to Mason, who was doing a close inspection of the creature. For the duration of the wait for the paramedics Liam paced the room impatiently, his ears permanently tuned to hear Theo's pulse. He couldn't shake the anxiety he felt gazing down at him.

After that day Liam, after some contemplation, realised that since returning from hell Theo had changed. As far as anyone could tell he had dropped the intent to steal Scott's pack, and rather worked toward becoming a part of it. He and Scott had reconciled before Scott's departure. It wasn't clear whether he was officially one of them, and Corey had stated on multiple occasions that Theo didn't have his trust, yet he continued to help them by doing his part to protect Beacon Hills. 

While he was around, at least. Liam hadn't seen him since he was placed in the ambulance. The first thing he did after school the following day was go to the hospital to see him, but Melissa explained that after a couple of hours hooked up to a mechanical ventilator he'd woken up and left without leaving any indication as to where he was going. Liam thought about calling him, but he reminded himself not to as he recalled their conversation from before.  
/

Liam came back to real time on hearing Mrs. Finch announce that she'd be calling on a student. That student being someone other than him, he rested his chin in his hand and receded back into his memories.

/  
It was a week after his attack. He'd lost track of time practicing lacrosse on his own. Ironically, it had only happened because he was distracting himself from the thought of hunters, and now he was put at their mercy walking home after the sun went down.

Despite feeling like he was walking around in a furnace all day, he now was always seen sporting a hoody. He wore the hood up when he was alone and avoided looking directly into the windows of oncoming cars. 

He could hear footfall behind him. It was a dozen meters back, going at the same pace as his. Their steps were heavy, and he imagined the thick soles of combat boots. He could hear their steady heartbeat, the clutter of their bag as they pushed their hand around inside, reaching for something.

The steps were getting quicker, and Liam prepared himself.

They started to run. Just as they reached him, he turned around.

His eyes gleamed, his mouth open wide to exhibit sharp fangs. These were the first instinctual intimidation tac tics that werewolves used to stun their opponents. He roared.

Unfortunately, it was evident by the terrified shriek and the quickly fading footfall that the individual hadn't been an enemy. A few paces away a bus pulled up at its stop.  
/

A dull pain in his hand drew him out of the memory. He brought his clenched fist under the table, releasing it to find his claws had exposed themselves, digging into his palms. He withdrew them, looking around to see if anyone had noticed. He covered his bloodied palm with his sleeve.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"Liam."

Liam shut the door to his locker room compartment to see Corey standing beside him. His searching gaze gave away what he was about to say before he could speak a word, and Liam rolled his eyes, turning away from him.

"Please go to him. He won't stop talking about it. He insists on one of us going to the sheriff's station with him." Corey said. Liam was inattentive to his request as he casually picked up his lacrosse stick.

"You know I can't go with him," Corey continued, "I got that new job down at the bowling alley. It helps pay the rent to my apartment."

Liam turned to Corey with an expression of partial mock disgust.

"Are you trying to guilt trip me?"

Corey stared dolefully at him with his soft hazel eyes, which was returned with a scoff from Liam.

"I have my own problems right now." He replied.

Corey dropped the act.

"There hasn't been a single incident with the hunters for weeks. We don't even know if they're still in Beacon Hills." He said.

Liam pursed his lips and stared steadily at Corey, who continued.

"You're letting your paranoia over nothing get in the way of helping your best friend."

He took a nervous step back as Liam leaned in, clenching his jaw. 

"Two murder attempts isn't nothing." He said, blowing past him and leaving the locker room.

He knew he should've been glad that there was no sign of the hunters, since it meant that there was less reason to call Scott, yet every day his finger danced over the call button to Scott's number a little longer than the last time.

Out on the field the team split in half to play a practice game. Liam, usually a perfect shot, missed every time he was given the opportunity to shoot after his team mates trusted him with the ball. On noticing there was a rising grumble among Liam's side of the team, Nolan suggested that they practice passing and shooting for the rest of the session, to which Coach replied with a very aggressive affirmative, spitting a few final abuses in Liam's direction before sauntering off the field muttering about his drinking problem.

Liam also walked off to the side toward the bleachers, tearing off his gloves. His hands shook uncontrollably as he tried to retract his claws. His breathing quickened, and he growled through his clenched teeth, before hearing someone behind him. He immediately composed himself, turning to see who it was.

Nolan raised his arms in a gesture of surrender, smiling.

"It's just me." He said. Liam averted his eyes with an expression of displeasure.

"I don't know what's going on with you," Nolan said, "But I'm okay with you taking the rest of today's session off. I- I'm sure coach would also be okay with it."

Liam frowned. He'd been doing well with forgiving his team, making a special effort when it came to Nolan, but in that moment all he wanted to do was snap at him and tell him they weren't friends, they were just co-captains.

Luckily, or rather, to make things worse, Mason appeared by the bleachers and was approaching them. Nolan greeted him with a smile, which was returned much less enthusiastically.

"I'll tell the coach." Nolan said, turning and jogging back to the field. 

Liam slowly raised his head to look at Mason with a look of tired resignation. He still had that look of determination that one gets before spinning off into insanity.

"I know it's name." He said, his voice bobbing with excitement. Liam half expected him to release an insane cackle.

"Oh really?" He replied, rubbing his forehead.

"I went through several books on mythical creatures, and it turns out it comes from ancient Chinese mythology. It's called a Xiangliu-" 

Liam had started walking away back to the school, Mason trailing him as he continued to talk.

"-it's a venemous creature that brings flooding and chaos. It's like the hydra from Greek mythology, but it doesn't apply to the exact same rules. It says here-" Mason drew out his phone and started scrolling. "-wherever it's tongue touches becomes boggy and filled with poisonous water. It's also known as a gluttonous creature-"

"Mason." Liam said cutting him off. "Please stop. I'll go with you if you just stop talking."

Mason nodded, biting his lip. "Yep. Great. Will do."

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Half an hour later they entered the sheriff's station. Sheriff Stilinski was in his office sitting at his desk going through several reports. On seeing the two, he removed his reading glasses and lay back, sighing.

"You going to explain these?" He asked. He replaced his glasses and read aloud the description on the stapled report in his hand.

"'Homeless man found dead on Roosevelt bridge, having died from a wound in his chest. Forensics report say he was impaled with an object at least two and a half inches in diameter at its thickest, shaped like the horn of a bull. Weapon and murderer still unknown.'" 

Mason and Liam exchanged a look. Before either could say anything, Stilinski read aloud another.

"'Power outage on Parkland Street, no.13 at 8:15 in the evening, Mr. Clements went outside to take a look at the distribution board, on arriving claimed to have seen a young woman of no older than twenty chewing on the wires.'"

He picked up another.

"'Severed head of local garbage collector-'"

"That's not why we came here," Mason said hurriedly before Stilinski could continue. 

Removing his glasses once more, he looked at the two expectantly.

"Well," Mason said, "actually we are looking for a case. It's a missing persons case."

"You know the name?" Stilinski asked.

"Berkeley." Mason replied. "Lives right next to the park. Missing since this morning."

"I remember that case, because it's the easiest one to remember."

"Can you tell us?" Mason asked.

Stilinski sighed. For a moment it seemed like he'd reject them, but he started talking.

"I'm assuming you knew him. Mr. Berkeley was diagnosed with vascular dementia after a receiving brain damage in a car accident twenty years ago. At this point it was expected to have degenerated to a point where he has problems with planning, judgement and memory. Our guess is, and what is most likely the case, that he's wandered off somewhere, and we got a good team lookin' for him right now, so there's nothing to worry about."

Liam turned to Mason.

"We done here?" He asked.

Mason shook his head. He was staring at the desk, the clockwork behind his eyes practically audible. Liam sat down in a chair nearby and placed his head in his hands, knowing what was coming.

Eventually, Stilinski raised his eyebrows and sat back down in his chair.

"Well-"

"That doesn't make sense." Mason said, cutting him off. "Vascular dementia doesn't degenerate from stage 1 to stage 6 over the course of two nights. He showed no signs of cognitive decline the last time I saw him. And his accident wasn't twenty years ago, or else why is he getting his brain scanned for it every other day that I see him? Unless..."

He turned to Stilinski.

"Sheriff, what did they do during the doctors appointment, the day he was diagnosed with vascular dementia? Did it involve a surgery of any kind?"

Stilinski, having no idea as to what he was getting at, handed him the file, backing away as soon as it was in his grasp.

Mason flipped through the pages, reading through the medical history page. When he was sated he looked up, his eyes glinting.

"It says here that he received a surgery that intended to decrease the brain damage from his accident. Apparently it 'involved removing a part of his brain that doctors left unspecified, leading to the suspicion that Mr. Berkeley was subjected to an unauthorised experiment without his consent. He subsequently was diagnosed with vascular dementia.' Do you know what this means?"

"Give me that." Stilinski said, reaching out for the file. "How did I not catch that part?"

Mason excitedly looked from Liam to Stilinski.

"It means that he was misdiagnosed. It means there's no way that he wandered off because he doesn't have vascular dementia, but he does have anterograde amnesia. That's when after a certain point you can no longer create new memories. They removed his hippocampus during the surgery. He kept telling me about his doctor's appointment because it was the morning before he developed it. And he never used my name because he wasn't able to remember it! That's why he should've been there this morning, and that's proof that something worse than wandering off happened to him."

Stilinski stared at him. After a few seconds, he said, "If my son had died, you'd be his reincarnation."

"Thanks, I hear he was the smart one in the group." Mason replied.

Stilinski massaged his forehead with his fingers, before speaking again.

"Listen, we have too many cases to be complicating this one. This one gives us hope, because it's easy. Unless you can find someone who's willing to actually look into solving a few of these cases using their 'supernatural knowledge', I can't help you."

Mason looked over to Liam for support to find that he had fallen asleep with his chin resting on his chest. He turned back to Stilinski, his mouth open in disbelief. 

"Take me to Argent's." Liam said as they got into Mason's car. Mason stared dejectedly at the wheel.

"I have to talk with him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if that last part was a trip. I felt like Mason's characterisation needed some sprucing, so I had him have a full nerd-out.
> 
> If there's any issue with the plot or the pacing, don't spare me. Also, I'm sorry to people who came here for Thiam and had to read through this disaster. I'll make it up to you!


	7. Discussion

Liam and Mason drove in silence. As the sun dipped behind the silhouettes of buildings lining the streets, Liam could hardly keep his head held up. His resistance began to fail him, and the hands of sleep closed his eyelids with gentle fingers and let the strain on his neck slowly disappear. 

“Liam.” He heard Mason say.

Liam scowled, his eyes still shut.

“Mason, I’m trying to sleep.” He said grumpily. 

“We’re here.” 

He opened his eyes. They were parked outside Argent’s building. Yellow lamplight had replaced the waning gleam of sunlight, the sky now an inky starless void. Liam sat up from his slouched position, taking his hands out of his hoodie pockets. He turned to Mason, who had his elbow resting on the wheel as he faced Liam.

“You were asleep for like, 20 minutes.” Mason said.

Liam rubbed his neck, brushing his fingers past the untrimmed hairs. “Can you wait out here?”

“Of course.” Mason replied, applying his airpods.

Liam’s phone vibrated in the back pocket of his jeans. Drawing it out, he saw his stepfather calling him. He stared vacantly at the screen. He denied the call and stuffed both hands into his pockets as he heard feet treading across the floor to approach the door.

Argent’s face showed no signs of surprise on seeing Liam.

“You didn’t bring your phone, did you? Otherwise meetings like this would be a waste of my time.” Argent began.

Liam's fingers fidgeted in his pockets. “I... no. Has there been any contact? With the hunters?” 

“Not since a month ago.”

“Have you… you know, tried calling them?”

Argent stared deadpan at Liam. 

“You know that’s not how this works.”

Liam stared at the ground awkwardly. He started to consider accepting what Corey had said. He was being paranoid. He decided then that if Argent shared the belief that the hunters were gone, he’d get over it. 

He heard Argent drawing something out of his pocket.

“What’s that?” Liam asked.

Argent held it up. It was a pendant with a thin golden chain. Something dangled from it.

“It’s the Chinese character ‘林 Lin’, Sadie’s family name." Argent explained. "I found it out in the woods as I was hunting for a loose Griffin.”

“I- Wait, did you just say Griffin?” Liam said. “There are Griffins now?”

“They’re not native to Beacon Hills. If angry, they are very dangerous and the reports at the sheriff’s office are looking grim.” 

He stared at Liam with a stony expression. Liam noticed and stumbled over a few apologies and invitations for Argent to continue talking about the pendant.

“I think they left it for me to find it.” He continued. “How they knew I’d be out there at that time to find it, I have no idea, but this is a clear sign that they are still in Beacon Hills.”

Liam sighed internally.

"If they wanted you to be killed, you probably would be dead by now." He added. Liam looked at him apprehensively, but realised a moment later that Argent was trying to be helpful. It was his way of saying that that he was no longer the target. The hunters, for now, were no longer a threat.

"Liam. I advise that you turn your focus toward the supernatural creatures that are on the loose, like the rest of us. Even Hale is making progress. We need everyone we can get. Have you gotten a hold of Theo?" Argent said.

"I- No, no I haven't. I mean, I've tried calling him. I have no idea where he is." Liam replied. He was glad Argent couldn't hear heartbeats from where he stood.

With nothing more to be said, Liam left the building. Despite what had been discussed he could still feel his muscles tense for as he stepped outside. He lifted his hood.

Back at Argent's apartment, the mentioning of Theo's name had recalled a vivid memory. 

/  
“It wouldn’t be the first time, if they decided to destroy my truck as well.” Theo said. 

They drove down the road that led to the animal clinic. Liam had been staring at his sideview mirror, wary of any cars following them. 

Whether Liam was listening or not, Theo kept talking. “A bunch of hunters shot out the windows to my truck the night I was caught by Munroe’s group. It cost more than I could afford for me to get it fixed.”

Liam turned to Theo, who gave away nothing from his outward appearance.

“How did you pay for it?” Liam asked.

“I did the guy running the auto repair shop a few favours.”  
/

Liam scrolled down his list of contacts, arriving upon Theo's, which Scott had given to him. Liam had never used it. He had taken into account the probability that Theo was on his own. Maybe he led a life that only partly involved Scott's pack. If their call was traced and the hunters found him, he would have to defend himself without help. 

He quickly reminded himself of what Argent said. They needed as many people as they could get to catch the creatures that had overrun Beacon Hills. That was why he was calling.

_Whatever happens after you do this is your responsibility._

Liam huffed out his nose, closing his phone and shoving it in his pocket. He walked toward the pavement where Mason was parked.

On reaching the spot he looked around. Mason's car was gone. 

His phone buzzed. After closing his eyes and and taking a sharp breath to resist tearing someone's throat out, he accepted the call.

"Hi dad."

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Before reaching his house Liam made sure to send plentiful angry emojis to Mason from inside his stepdad's rental. Dr. Geyer was silent throughout the drive, holding an air of passivity. Over the past month he'd done Liam the grace of talking to him, but it was clear from the way they interacted that some part of losing his luxury SUV still stung.

On entering his living room Liam was not expecting his mother to be sitting in her reading chair, facing him, and more shockingly, looking at him. His stepfather made his way across the room and positioned himself next to Mrs. Geyer, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Liam." She began, her voice steady. It kept him rooted to the spot. "It's time to have an important talk about your future."

"Can I go to my room first?" Liam said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. 

"Liam, I want you to take a psychiatric evaluation." His mother continued.

He felt his pulse quicken.

"Why?"

His mother lowered her chin, her forehead creasing as she hitched her eyebrows, attempting to appear more sincere but authoritative.

"I have been sparing you the consequences of playing a part in your father's car theft. I have been ignoring the rumours made about you that have spread among the parents of your peers, which I will get to later. And this isn't all about me, let's not forget that your father has done twice as much forgiving as myself."

"If you wanted to discuss how I can repay you, we could've talked weeks ago." Liam said.

"It's not about us. I had my suspicions from the night you took the car without our permission. I've talked it through with your personal psychiatrist and he says you are showing signs of relapse."

"I haven't seen Mr. Dooley in years. Mom, I-"

"Back in May, several people saw you standing over your old classmate Brett and his sister Laurie after they got in an accident. They said a bunch of ridiculous things about how- how you were physically changed, like a monster. They said you'd done it to them." His mother lay back in her chair, raising both hands.

"You know what's the worst part? I remember them. And I remember how much you hated Brett after he nicknamed you after your condition."

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.

"I'm not saying I believe them. I'm just worried that, after all this time, not giving you proper treatment has been for the worst."

Liam knew that chances were, practicing lacrosse with his stepdad wasn't going to be enough this time. He knew the side effects of antipsychotic drugs. He recalled a memory of Mr. Dooley shaking a fluoxetine bottle in front of him a few years back.

He looked to Dr. Geyer, who looked back at him with a stern, neutral expression letting him know that it was pointless to argue.

"You think I should be on medication?" Liam said, trying to keep his voice steady. His hands were closed into fists.

"I know you don't see it, Liam, but something is going on with you. You never pick up your father's calls, you wear sweaters in thirty degree heat-" Dr Geyer gently squeezed Mrs. Geyer's shoulder. She took a breath. 

"Whatever it is, I am more than willing to listen and to help any way I can." She said. "And so is Mr. Dooley."

His claws pierced through the skin of his palms. Liam whirled around, storming out of the room and up the stairs toward his bedroom. Slamming the door shut, he took a few steps forward, chanting under his breath.

The full moon was a week away. After today, this couldn't be because of the hunters. He didn't understand. Through his clenched teeth he let out a stifled growl, his radiating eyes reflected in his bedroom window. His senses sharpened until he could hear cicadas and grasshoppers outside as if they were in his room. 

Turning his hands over, he recoiled on seeing large tufts of brown fur had grown on his hands and forearms. He glanced at his bedroom window reflection and saw the twisted features of a creature more animal than man staring back at him.

The next moment he was clambering out into the hallway and locking himself in the bathroom. Breathing quickly, he stripped himself and leapt into the shower. 

"The sun... The moon..." He whispered, cold water drizzling down his face and catching on his eyelashes. 

"The truth."

After a lifetime he opened his eyes. His hands were normal, but they were shaking.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The school bell shrieked. As students picked up their bags and headed out to lunch, a hand gripped Mason's wrist as he rose from his seat. He turned, but saw no one.

"Corey?" He said in a low voice, dropping his bag and feeling with his other hand where his wrist was being held. Once the teacher and all the students had filtered out of the class, Corey made himself visible. Mason held his hand in both of his.

"What's up?" Mason asked, searching his expression.

"I just wanted to stay behind for a little bit. To avoid the looks." He replied.

Mason rubbed his thumb over his knuckles. 

"No one's looking at you the way you think they are." He said gently.

"They know what I am." Corey said. "It's getting harder to ignore ever since that blog."

"It covers the rise in supernatural monsters, not chameleons." 

Mason got up and reached out his hand to Corey. Corey smiled up at him, about to take his hand when he suddenly vanished.

"Corey?" Mason asked, frowning. He felt the hand touch his and tug slightly as he used it to stand, but he couldn't see him.

As suddenly as he'd disappeared, Corey reappeared. He looked at Mason's confused expression.

"What?"

"Um... Nothing." 

Together they walked to where the school buses were stationed, away from the other students. Liam stood by in the shade of one of them, wearing a grey nike pullover hoodie. It was twenty nine degrees out.

The three having assembled, Mason started.

"Okay. I know this sounds crazy, but I think I can conjure objects from my dreams." He said.

Corey and Liam stared at him in equal confusion.

"Good one?" Liam said.

"I'm not joking." Mason replied, kneeling to dig through his schoolbag. He carefully pulled out a white mask and held it up for the others.

"I dreamt last night that I was digging though actual concrete to get this box, which held this mask inside it. It was like a force I was drawn to. When I woke up, the mask was sitting on top of my wardrobe." 

"Mason, that's insane." Liam said. Corey took the mask from Mason's hand and looked at it closely.

"More insane than you going full werewolf last night when it wasn't even a full moon?" Mason quipped back.

"Wait, what?" Corey said, looking over to Liam.

Liam grabbed the mask from Corey's hands.

"What even is this? It looks like-" 

"It's a Peking opera mask." A voice sounded from behind Liam. All three jumped and turned around.

Nolan stood behind Liam in the shade of the bus. He pointed to the mask.

"The white represents a treacherous and crafty character. Based on the quality of the wood and the obvious re-coating of paint, it probably dates back a few hundred years."

The expressions he received were a mixture of perplexity, hesitancy and disdain. He smiled nervously.

"My mom's an enthusiast." He said, before backing away slowly. The three continued to stare at him until he disappeared behind the bus.

Liam turned to Mason.

"This can't have appeared out of nowhere." Liam said. 

"Maybe you were sleepwalking?" Corey suggested.

"I don't think I can dig a hole in the middle of a concrete floor with inhuman strength even when I'm not asleep." Mason said.

A shadow was cast over them. All three turned to gaze at the stranger who had approached them. 

He was neither school staff nor student. Like Liam, he wore clothes entirely inappropriate to the weather, but with better taste and care put into the construction of the outfit. He was tall and broad shouldered. His curls of dark blonde hair, angular face and well placed facial features made him look like modern renditions of the archangel Michael.

He peered down at the three with inscrutable blue eyes outlined with dark lashes, but before any of them could say anything, he spoke. 

"I'm Isaac. On behalf of Cora Hale, I'm here to invite you to a very important meeting."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got to do another!
> 
> I think quite a few of the things in this chapter will make much more sense in later events. It's hard to see how well it's being laid out when you know everything that's going to happen.  
> Edit: This is most definitely the case (･∀･；)


	8. Forest

Jordan Parrish sat at his desk at the Sheriff's station with his forehead resting on his knuckles, jotting down notes from the most recent case that had arrived. He looked over to Sheriff Stilinski through the window of his office, who was currently sitting frowning at his open laptop.

The past few weeks had been especially difficult for the Sheriff. Every other day another inexplainable report came in. Everyone knew that, once again, the Sheriff's job was on the line.

Jordan looked over again, and was surprised to see that Sheriff Stilinski was now beckoning him from his office.

"Parrish, close the door behind you and come look at this." The Sheriff said. Jordan strode over to the desk.

Open on the screen was an untitled email containing a video file. The sender was anonymous.

"There can't be a virus or anything connected to a video, right?" The Sheriff said.

"I don't know, sir." Jordan replied.

He thought about making a joke about dying in seven days if they watched it, but decided against it. For all they knew, the video could be a threat upon the Sheriff's station, which usually happened after the public caught on to their inefficiency.

The thumbnail to the video showed the angle of the camera positioned on the ceiling looking down. Though the black and white colouring and quality made if difficult to identify most of the items strewn about the room, Parrish could make out a reception desk, a glass door entrance, and a figure stepping into the frame. On the glass door, he could identify the partially visible logo of the Beacon Hills animal clinic. White numbers displayed the time and date on the bottom left corner of the screen, 9:30pm September 20th. That was the evening before.

Parrish caught the Sheriff eyeing the pile of reports on his desk. He knew that the Sheriff would do anything for a clue not tied to the supernatural that helped resolve at least one case. A second later, he clicked on the video.

As the video began, the figure in the corner of the frame walked into the center of the disorderly room. Both Sheriff Stilinski and Jordan recognised him immediately.

"What the heck is he doing?" The Sheriff muttered.

The figure lifted what looked like a large metal rod above his head, holding it vertically, and brought it down hard on the ground where the floor was already partially cracked.

They looked on in bewilderment as the figure, with abnormal strength, successfully broke parts of the floor away. They fast forwarded twenty minutes, the figure continuing to dig throughout without stopping. 

Eventually he stopped, tossing aside the medal rod and digging with his hands inside the hole he'd created. A moment later he was holding a wooden box the size of a book. He tore off the lid, throwing it aside, before taking out an object and tossing the casket aside as well. The object appeared to be a mask, one that would be used in a pantomime.

The Sheriff and Parrish stared at the screen with mutually disturbed expressions. They watched Mason slowly lift the mask to his face, and the video cut.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

After a tedious half hour being crammed in the backseat of the handsome stranger's car, Corey, Mason and Liam stepped out into a dimly lit alleyway somewhere in the warehouse district. 

Isaac started walking away along the alley. He turned back briefly, gesturing for them to follow. Liam went ahead with his hands tucked in his pockets.

Mason turned around. He frowned, remaining still, his eyes searching the narrow alley.

"Corey?" Mason said. 

"Mason, I'm right here." Corey said, reaching out his hand. Mason pulled back at his touch, but only for a second. He looked surprised.

"Are you invisible right now? I can't see you." He said, grabbing at the air for Corey's hand. 

He raised his arm so that Mason could find it and grab hold. He knew he was visible again the moment Mason made eye contact with him.

"What just happened?" Mason asked

"I don't know." Corey said, shrugging. "You couldn't see me."

"You didn't know you were invisible?" Mason asked. 

If Corey were to talk to anyone about the sensitive topic of his abilities, it would be Mason, but he didn't want him panicking about the implications. For the past week he'd gone hours into the night researching the monsters he saw in his dreams, scantily making up for his lack of sleep with coffee. Most of the time he was either too buzzed or too drowsy for them to talk the way they used to. 

And Corey missed the Mason that existed before the obsession with nightmares. It was Mason's tired eyes that prevented him telling the truth. Things had been getting worse for everyone, but no one talked about it because no one thought the others would understand. That was what Corey guessed, anyway, with Liam in mind, and he wasn't about to be any better.

"Hey. It's nothing." He said, smiling. He took Mason's hand in his. "Why don't tonight you sleep over at my apartment?" 

Corey liked saying 'my apartment'. It made him feel like he had his life together, even if he spent several days of the week working at the bowling alley and had a freelance job to help the rent, while trying to maintain a 3.2 GPA. He refused to go to his parents for money.

To the invitation Mason looked the same way he had in the library when Corey asked him out a year ago, a little surprised but followed immediately with simmering excitement. Corey grinned back.

"...Do you think Isaac is going to kill us?" He asked.

"Shh! He can probably hear you." Mason hissed, laughing. 

Around the corner, at the end of the path, there was metal door leading into an abandoned warehouse. Corey pulled the heavy portal open with ease.

After going up a flight of stairs they reached the first level. They met up with Liam, who was facing someone.

It was a girl who looked around Scott's age. She had firmly set eyebrows, jaw length dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. She held a strange resemblance to Peter.

"I'm Cora." She said, looking at each of them. "You're all a part of Scott's pack?"

Corey wondered what she thought of them. Mason looked dishevelled and Liam was growing a stubble and was withdrawn into his hoodie. Corey was the only one who appeared to be coping.

"Yeah." Mason said. "Substitute alpha, right here." He pointed his thumb to Liam, who gave a strained smile.

"Well, I'm an alpha." She said, facing Liam. "Peter requested assistance from me and my pack. I made a promise to my brother that I'd help if it was needed." 

Isaac spoke up from next to her.

"Where are the creatures coming from?" He asked.

There was an extended pause. It took Corey a few seconds to realise that they hadn't answered his question. He himself had only been half listening, too distracted by the movement of Isaac's lips. He looked over to Mason, who was just as hopeless. They both looked at expectantly at Liam.

It took a few seconds for Liam to tear his eyes away from Isaac's jawline to meet their gaze. His eyes widened with realisation and he turned back to Isaac.

"Yes." He replied confidently, nodding. Mason covered his eyes and shook his head.

"As you can see," Peter said from behind them. "They're completely hopeless."

He sauntered over to Cora.

"It's nice to see you're a part of a pack now, Peter." She said. Her chin was raised and she regarded him with a look of slight contempt.

"I'm not a part of their pack. I'm more of a volunteer. I promised my daughter before she left that I'd lend a hand." He crossed his arms. "I don't know about you, but I think she'd be proud of my dedication thus far." 

He looked past Cora to Isaac.

"I see the Derek Hale internship has run its course." He remarked. "I would argue that this is an upgrade. Congratulations."

"It's nice to see you too, Peter." Isaac replied cooly.

"Where's the rest of your pack?" Cora asked, facing Liam.

"Right now it's just us. And Argent. A-and another guy, but we don't know where he is." Liam said.

Corey looked askance at him. "Theo's not a part of the pack." he said. Liam returned the look. 

"Argent?" Cora said, frowning.

"Don't worry, you can trust him. I trust him." Isaac said earnestly.

Just as he said this, the werewolves present could hear a car driving up and parking by the warehouse. Soon steps sounded on the staircase.

"It's a human." Cora noticed.

"It's Argent." Isaac said, smiling. He took a step forward to greet him.

Argent smiled broadly as he greeted Isaac with a hug. It was apparent that the two had history. What Corey found the most astonishing was that Argent was capable of both smiling and hugging. He felt a strange relief as Argent settled back into his usual stern expression as he approached them.

"Backup, as per requested." Peter said, motioning to Cora.

"I appreciate you coming all the way here with your pack." Argent said, minding Cora. "Where's your base?"

"The loft." Cora replied, eyeing him up and down.

Isaac stared at the rolls of paper sticking out of Argent's duffel bag.

"Are those blueprints?" He asked.

"Hale, help me with this." Argent said, kneeling to lift an old metal table that lay on its side. Peter stepped forward, but before he could reach it Cora was grabbing the side of the table with one hand and yanked it up into an upright position. 

On the table Argent laid out his several blueprints and sketches. 

"I've figured out where the monsters are coming from. It took a while, but I managed to trace up the path of one of the creatures I was hunting." He explained. Cora and Peter stepped closer.

Argent turned to Corey and the others.

"You guys can leave now that you've all met. This plan only concerns Cora's pack. I'll keep you updated." He said. 

"You don't need our help?" Liam asked.

Argent nodded. His gaze was telling. It was as if he knew that all of them were barely holding it together. Corey felt relieved.

Isaac went with them as they left, as he was their only ride out of there.

Halfway down the stairs, Corey heard Peter say something. 

"Careful. It's a full moon tonight."

There was no doubt this was directed at Liam.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Along the drive, Mason, who was sitting in between Liam and Corey in the backseat of Isaac's car, leant forward and rested his elbows on the backs of the front seats.

"So, Isaac." He said casually. "Are you familiar with Beacon Hills?"

"Yeah. I used to live here." Isaac replied. "I also used to go to your high school."

"Were you friends with Scott?" 

"I was part of his pack for some time." He replied. "And his foster brother for a while."

"Wow." Mason said. "If you don't mind me asking, why'd you leave? You must've left before we became juniors." 

Isaac paused. Corey, who had been listening, glanced over to look at Isaac's eyes in the rearview mirror. They looked melancholic.

"There was nothing stopping me from leaving." He eventually replied.

Corey understood how that felt. He reached out and touched Mason's elbow.

After Isaac had dropped the two off at the school, they hopped into Mason's car and drove over to Video 2*C. 

"DVDs are so outdated." Mason had said with his hands in his pockets, looking around the antiquated rental store while Corey picked out a movie. He'd decided to settle for _'Paranormal Activity'._

Despite the emptiness of the unfilled spaces, the crumbling structure of the building and the slightly less than desirable neighbourhood, Corey loved his apartment. It was all under his name. Mason and Liam had helped him move in with a few sparse pieces of furniture. That was before everything started happening. Before the night of Liam's attack. 

An hour later, he and Mason were sitting on the pullout bed sharing a pizza. On the screen of the small 2008 edition television, the movie played on, the screen lighting their faces in the dark room. Corey lay on his stomach, resting his chin on his wrist. He looked into Mason's partially opened backpack that sat nearby. He could see the opera mask sitting inside. He reached out and traced the edges of the paint with his fingertips.

The movie stopped. Mason had pressed the pause button, now looking over to Corey.

"Why did you really invite me over tonight?." Mason asked.

Corey innocently shrugged his shoulders. 

"So we could talk, if you want." He said.

When Mason looked away biting his lip, Corey sat up and moved closer.

"...And so that you could go one night without obsessing over monsters and mutated werewolves." Corey picked up his hand, rubbing his thumb over his fingernails affectionately.

With still no response, Corey decided he'd continue with the subject. He hesitated, trying to find the right words.

"I know that you care so much about your dreams because you want to know what's happening to you. You've had vivid nightmares where you're being scalded with a branding iron, and you wake up with a blemish on the exact spot. You dreamt that Mr. Berkeley was killed by a snake monster, and he went missing the morning after. These things are affecting you."

Mason turned to look at him, half his face cast in shadow as only limited blue light from the tv lit the room. With this lighting, Corey thought, paired with his tired features, Mason looked like a ghost.

"I guess I have been losing sleep." Mason said. "I feel like I'm being given fragments of a picture that I just can't put together. The only thing that I can understand is the monsters."

Corey nodded. He tried to look as encouraging as possible.

"Okay." He said. "Can you tell me why you and Liam aren't talking much? What's going on between you guys?."

"That's not my fault." Mason replied. "Liam's been acting weird. He's gradually getting more aggressive, and I know it's not because of the hunters, it's something else. It seems like every time we interact, something in me triggers him, and he acts out."

'You don't know the half of it,' Corey thought to himself. The other day Liam nearly lost his captaincy because he broke the lacrosse stick of some guy from Devenford Prep after he thought he heard him say the word 'IED'.

"No, it can't be you. You guys are brothers. It's probably because Scott's not around." Corey said. 

He knew it wasn't Mason who was triggering Liam. It was what was inside him. Corey wasn't just thinking about the moments when Mason was dissociative and unresponsive, which could easily be attributed to his lack of sleep. He was thinking of Mason's shadow being larger that it should be and the man that followed them around the mall the other day that only Mason could see. Corey stared at the disc case for _'Paranormal Activity',_ but quickly drew himself away from the ridiculous theories he'd started considering.

"I wanna talk about you." Mason said, bringing Corey out of his thoughts.

"What about me?" He replied.

"You losing control of your powers. How long has it been going on?" Mason asked.

It had started around the time the first supernatural creatures started appearing. It was around the time Mason started getting nightmares. There were nights when he'd lie awake wondering if he was visible. Everything always had a slight green hue, and he'd developed astigmatism. He couldn't tell which world he was standing in.

And he always, always had the deep sinking dread of disappearing forever.

Not that he'd ever say this aloud.

"Corey?" Mason said. Corey looked up, repressing a shiver. Mason picked up on his discomfort.

"We can talk about something else." He said quickly, changing the subject. God, Corey loved him. 

"You know how pushy my parents are. You know that since middle school they've been making me prioritise Biology and Chemistry. They're also, like, really untrusting to the point of frustration. I mean, they've always been, but it got worse after I disappeared, running around as the beast of Gévaudan. They waited a year after I got my license to let me have my own car, because they were so paranoid about me driving myself around, and it took me literally half an hour to convince them to go catch their flight this morning. They were seriously about to miss their friend's wedding because they thought I couldn't handle myself alone."

Corey smiled sadly.

"Mason, your parents are great." He said. "Not only did they remember your birthday, but they got you a car as a gift. They're pushy because they care about your future." He examined the pale smooth skin of his hands. "My parents added more to my allowance every time I needed attention. $300 dollars can get you a great wardrobe, but can't give you a place in your parent's house that lets you feel like you belong there."

Corey looked up as Mason took his hands in his.

"You're out now. You've got this place, and me." Mason said gently. Corey squeezed his hand.

They turned off the movie, not bothering to finish it, and put away their dishes. Corey put Mason's bag out of sight by hiding it on the floor on his side of the bed, in an attempt to keep him from feeling the urge to continue his obsessive research. He patted the spot next to him on the bed as Mason emerged from the bathroom.

Mason eyes almost immediately fluttered closed as sleep finally got to drag him away. Corey lay on his side, watching him. After waiting a few minutes, he gradually got up, turning back to make sure Mason hadn't awoken from the squeak of the second hand mattress. He squatted down by Mason's backpack, slowly reaching in to touch the mask. 

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a firm grip on his shoulder.

Spinning around with a soundless gasp, he saw Mason standing over him. He'd somehow managed to get out of bed and make his way across the floor without making a noise. His face was expressionless.

Corey looked into his eyes. They were unfocused, and every so slightly darting from side to side.

"M-Mason," Corey said, standing quickly. "I think you should lie down."

"The bodies." Mason said monotonously. He looked so unlike himself that Corey was instinctively shrinking back in fear.

"What?" Corey said with a fraught stare.

"The symbol. The hunters." He didn't appear to be sleepwalking. It seemed to be more of an out of touch hypnotic state. Corey reached out to clasp his wrist.

"Mason it's-" Corey turned to look at the digital clock next to his bed. "It's ten o'clock. You don't have to go outside right now."

Mason had turned and started walking toward the front door, his hand sliding his car keys off the kitchen counter. Corey grabbed a jacket and rushed after him.

"Mason, wait!"

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The eye of the moon watched over Beacon Hills, its light penetrating through the wispy clouds sailing across the sky. It searched the ground for creatures alike that were drawn to it, betas experiencing their first full moon, predators that hunted under its light, shining into the shadows and the dark corners of the town. 

A small stream of water that trickled through the silent forest reflected its eggshell white glow. The image was dashed to bits as a foot collided with it. The moon turned its eye onto the creature. 

It barrelled through the woods, panting roughly. Its exposed claws ready to open a crevice in something's flesh, the lips twitching in desire to be smeared in warm blood. It stopped and turned to the moon with glowing yellow eyes. This wasn't its first full moon.

His senses reeled from the burning cravings of his homicidal thoughts. He fought the screaming urge to run back the way he'd come and find something to dig his nails into, something warm, alive, beating. Whatever humanity he had left could only act through his subconscious, his conscious mind swathed in his uncontrollable vicious urges.

He whipped his head about, trying to grasp his surroundings. Something was wrong. His senses were muddled, his breathing too hard, his adrenaline too anguished. The noise of his breathing was thunderous with the surroundings totally silent. He raised his hooked hands to his head, grabbing at his hair. 

He roared with frustration and started to bound once more, propelling himself forward on both hands and feet. His nails dug into the ground, spraying dirt and roots, scattering dried leaves. 

Suddenly, a blinding light shone in his face, and he skittered to a stop, shielding his eyes. The vehicle very nearly collided with him, screeching on its brakes. 

A truck, out in the middle of the woods. One comprehensible word broke through the tumultuous haze. _Hunters._

He turned and ran down the road, a familiar alarm gripping his chest. But this time it was going to be different. After a few seconds, he stopped running.

He stood stationary as the truck rumbled across the ground behind him. He couldn't trust his hearing, but could at present only identify a single heartbeat. The individual stepped out of the truck.

He growled, turning slowly. He bore his fangs, a low grumble emitting from his throat. The figure moved slowly toward him, the headlights too bright behind them to see their face. He let out a warning snarl.

"...Liam?"

The sound stuck his chest. It wasn't the name, it was the voice.

He keened his eyes to identify the stranger. He released a warning growl when they stepped too close.

"Okay, okay. I'll stay here." The stranger said, stopping a few meters away. They had stepped out of the light of the headlights enough for him to partially see their face, but his eyes couldn't focus.

The storm in his mind had grown less deafening. He tried his sense of smell, picking up on the stranger's scent. They were like him. Wolf. And something else- Coyote. But appeared in their human form. He still coveted the stranger's flesh.

But there it was again.

"Liam, do you recognise me?" They said. He lowered his head, glaring at them. He could hear their heartbeat, close, steady.

"You're Liam Dunbar." They continued. "You go to Beacon Hills high school. You're a part of Scott McCall's pack. You're his first beta."

The stranger's voice echoing around his head. His confusion became a rush of anger, and he took a threatening step forward with a rumble from his throat. 

The stranger remained where they stood. Then they moved a step closer. Their face looked into his. He tried to look away, but couldn't escape the image that left him so disoriented. He shook his head, trying to forget their singular, familiar scent.

"You were close to Scott." They went on. "And you've still got Mason. He's been your best friend since childhood. And earlier this year, you saved Hayden, someone who had it out for you but you two eventually... eventually fell in love, despite the odds."

As they went on, Liam started to remember. He stopped fighting, letting his temper subside. He closed his eyes, breathing slowly through his mouth. He crouched, feeling heavy, the night's exertions taking their toll on his limbs. His head fell into his hands, his dirty nails scraping bunches of his unkempt hair.

The figure walked up to him. Liam dropped his hands and stared at the ground. He felt groggy and a little nauseous.

He allowed himself to be helped up by them, a firm hand on his back steadying him. Liam turned his head, looking into the close face of the person. 

"Theo." He sighed, taking in the familiar eyes, nose, and lips that turned up into a smirk. 

"Welcome back, Dunbar."

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"Here." Theo said, tossing a clean t-shirt over to Liam. Liam removed his filthy hoodie, pulling it on. He joined Theo in his truck. 

They sat for a moment, with Theo thumbing his steering wheel while Liam relaxed into the seat. He never thought he'd miss the truck, but right then he could fall asleep in it. 

He remembered something, and frowned, turning to Theo.

"Where have been in the past month?" He asked. 

"I was on a business trip." Theo replied. "Did anything happen?"

Liam turned away with a scoff. "You're unbelievable." He said.

"I'm guessing a lot has taken a turn for the worse." Theo said, the truck starting to rumble forward on the path. 

Liam rested his head against the window. He thought about interrogating Theo on where he'd been, but knew he'd eventually have to explain everything that was going on, and was too tired for any of that. He sniffed his shirt sleeve, letting the fresh smell of detergent relax him. 

"Jesus!" Theo yelled.

Liam was thrown forward in his seat, saved by the seatbelt, as the truck snapped stop. His hands had shot out to catch himself. Liam whipped his head around to Theo, who was staring out at what was in front of the truck. Liam followed his gaze.

"Is that...?" Liam murmured.

Standing bleached in the headlights, frozen, Corey stood staring head on into the windshield. He clasped his jacket around him tightly. 

Theo quickly hopped out of the truck, Liam following. 

“Corey, what are you doing out here?” Theo asked, approaching him. On closer inspection, Liam saw that he was only wearing boxers. Dirt smeared the bottom of his expensive sneakers. 

“It’s Mason.” Corey replied. His eyes were large and haunting as he looked from Theo to Liam.

“He’s missing.”


	9. Search Party

The full moon in the sky reflected on his sideview mirror. Theo pondered for a while the science behind werewolves and the moon, and what element he was missing that prevented him from being affected the way others were.

Theo slammed his foot on the brake, stopping himself from swerving at the last second as a creature came bounding out of the woods onto the road. He stared at it with wide eyes, breathing heavily from shock.

In the light of the headlamps Theo could see its clothes, hands and face were streaked with dirt. Leaves stuck out of its long unruly hair. A pair of pale yellow eyes squinted behind its raised hand. 

A second later it turned and ran away down the road. Theo assumed it was a beta with particular difficulty in controlling his emotions. He smiled, reminded of someone he knew. He raked a hand through his hair and stepped on the pedal, following it.

A little ways down the road, the werewolf had stopped and stood facing away from him. His back was hunched, positioning him in a sort of half-crouch.

Theo used his senses. He couldn’t smell any blood on him. That was a start. Below the anger Theo could sense they were feeling defensive and uncertain, typical of a first-moon beta. He almost immediately was hit with another scent, which made his heart skip a beat.

“…Liam?” He said. 

The creature, having now turned and faced him, relaxed his display of fangs. His yellow eyes searched his face, but showed no signs of finding recollection.

Theo slowly moved toward him, but stopped after he growled. He was still extremely defensive, and one wrong step could risk getting Theo shredded to bits. He’d never seen Liam this way, but knew what he was capable of long before now. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have trusted him to kill Scott.

Liam’s stance was defensive. His flexed biceps were practically visible under the hoodie sleeves, his hunched shoulders making him appear bigger. Strands of brown hair fell into his face, falling across his twisted features.

His eyes rapidly looked Theo over. In this form, he probably wasn’t able to form coherent thoughts, too far into his transformation. He’d reacted when he heard Theo’s voice, so Theo started to talk.

He talked about Scott. He talked about Mason and Hayden, people he knew Liam cared deeply about. He didn’t consider bringing up himself. He spoke about moments in Liam's life that he knew of, like how he'd protected Hayden from the dread doctors. 

He inched closer as he spoke. He wiped away the sweat trickling down the side of his face and kept his heartbeat steady, trying to encourage relaxation. He was rolling the dice with each step, and he didn’t want to fight Liam.

Miraculously, Liam’s features were returning to normal. He shook his head a few times, shifting the balance on his feet, wobbling like a drunkard. He crouched to the ground, resting his weight on the balls of his feet. 

Theo himself internally sighed with relief. He approached Liam, who was visibly exhausted, and hauled him up with his shoulder under his armpit. He felt Liam's chest rise and fall against his own. He couldn't help smiling a little when he looked into his face. His eyes were met with Liam's light blue ones. He traced his eyes over the long lashes. He was a sight for sore eyes, after what Theo had been through for the past month.

"Theo" Liam said breathily, those lashes fluttering as he blinked slowly. Something squeezed Theo's heart. Probably the usual hiccup.

"Welcome back, Dunbar." He said.

“What are you doing out here?” Liam asked, turning his lolling head over to the truck. He was still disoriented. His voice was raspy as if he had a dry throat.

“I was heading back into town.” Theo said, leading him to his truck. He let go of Liam to reach into the backseat, where he kept a bag of his clothes. Luckily, he’d just gone to the laundromat that morning. He picked out a plain white shirt and tossed it over to Liam, courteously looking away as Liam languidly removed his hoodie, which was his only layer of clothing, and pulled on the shirt. Theo looked over, the corner of his mouth twitching. It was a little large for him.

He got into the truck as Liam was finishing shaking out the leaves and twigs in his hair. He slumped into the passenger seat. He left his hoodie lying on the ground outside.

Theo thought Liam would start explaining himself as soon as he could, but after a minute of silence made it apparent that this wasn’t the case, he decided to ask himself.

Liam beat him to the questioning. 

“Where have you been in the past month?” He asked. It was exactly the topic that Theo wanted to avoid.

“I was on a business trip.” He replied. Technically he wasn’t lying. He quickly changed the subject. “Did anything happen?”

“You’re unbelievable.” Liam replied.

‘That’s fair’, Theo thought to himself.

The truck continued down the path. Theo felt a little strange now that Liam was sitting next to him in one of his shirts. He glanced over. A lot must’ve happened in the past month, for the both of them. Liam’s hair was longer and his jaw was starting to sprout a few bristles. His posture was a little more slouched than usual and his shoulders were rounded.

On turning back to the road, he saw something a meter from the front of the car. He yelled out, slamming his foot on the brakes. 

He almost immediately recognised the pale slender frame of his former pack member. Corey stood staring at them through the windshield like an actual deer caught in headlights. Theo hastily got out of the truck and approached him.

“Corey, what are you doing out here?” He asked, lifting his arms by his sides in a gesture of annoyance. He looked over to Liam, who was looking Corey up and down. 

“It’s Mason.” Corey said, clutching his jacket around him like beggar. “He’s missing.” 

“What?” Liam said with an urgency in his voice. “Since when?” 

“A-an hour ago, we were in my apartment, and he got up and started to leave without saying where he was going.”

“What makes you think he’s out here?” Theo said.

“Because I was in the car with him as he came here before he disappeared. The whole time I was asking him where he was going, and worrying that he was going to crash the car. He looked like he wasn’t fully conscious.” Corey's anxious brown eyes looked from Theo to Liam.

"Was he sleepwalking?" Liam asked. 

"I-I don't know, he didn't hear anything I said, he didn't say anything to me except something about bodies and hunters."

"The hunters?" Liam said. "What did he mean?"

"How should I know?" Corey replied. He looked to Theo, who had been listening out of context and with puzzlement. "Please help us find him? We need your truck."

Theo frowned and turned to Liam. Liam's eyes were alert with worry. 

"Fine." Theo said. "Get in."

He started the truck, this time with both Liam and Corey as passengers. He hadn't thought tonight would be anything like this. Then again, it was Beacon Hills.

Corey tugged off his jacket and held it out. 

"Which one of you has a better sense of smell?" He asked. Liam looked at Theo expectantly from the back seat. Theo sighed, grabbing the jacket and holding it close to his face. It was Mason's, alright.

As he drove, Corey reached over to open his window. 

"What are you doing?" Theo asked, looking over to Corey irritably.

"Wouldn't it be easier to catch a scent with the window open?" He asked.

“What, you want me to stick my head out the window like a dog?” Theo replied.

"Not like a dog, like someone who's making an effort to find someone who's missing." Corey retorted.

"I was going to, can't you see I'm driving?" 

"That's why I was-" 

Liam interrupted their bickering by lunging forward and grabbing the jacket from his hand, sniffing it, and opening his window to stick his head out. Corey crossed his arms and stared at Theo, who rolled his eyes.

For ten minutes they drove a loop of the forest. Liam couldn't catch a scent.

"We have to get out and find him on foot." Corey said, reaching over to unbuckle himself. Liam put his hand on Corey's shoulder.

"Hold on." He said. "It's too dangerous to be out there."

Theo turned his head. "Why?" He asked.

Corey let go of the seat buckle to cross his arms. "You're right. It's too risky."

The woods were never dangerous for supernaturals like themselves. Whatever they were implying was starting to unsettle Theo.

"You guys going to fill me in here?" He asked.

"You know what, Theo? You disappeared for a month, so let's all agree that this doesn't concern you." Corey said coldly.

"Then why am I helping you find your missing boyfriend?" Theo replied snappily. 

"What is with you?" Liam asked.

"I nearly ran over both of you ten minutes apart, so I'm sorry if I'm a little on edge." Theo replied. "Now tell me what's going on."

There was a period of silence. By now the truck had come to a stop. Both Liam and Corey were silent, both appearing to be having difficulty coming up with the right explanation.

"Well?" Theo asked.

"It's hard to explain," Liam went, "because we have no idea what's happening either. The Sluagh was just the beginning of the creature attacks. Since then, there's been tons of cases, and Argent and Peter are barely enough to stop the whole of Beacon Hills from being overtaken."

"We don't know where they're coming from or why they're all coming" Corey said.

"Argent literally saw a Griffin the other day-"

"People at school are starting to avoid supernatural students again. Sheriff Stilinski might lose his job-"

"Like, I didn't know those even existed outside of Greek myths-"

"Deaton still isn't back, and I think my boyfriend's possessed-"

"Guys." Theo said. They both fell silent. Theo looked from one to the other. Liam was in dire need of a shower, and Corey was wearing boxers and a tank top. He wished Scott was still around.

"Liam and I will go outside and search for him, while you stay here." He leant over and reached into the compartment in front of Corey, pulling out a taser. He handed it to Corey, who took it tentatively.

"That wasn't there before." Liam observed.

"You can never be too careful." Theo replied, ignoring the look Liam was giving him. He exited the truck. "Come on."

Theo and Liam walked together off the road using their phone flashlights to light the way. After some minutes of walking, Theo asked if Liam had picked up a trail. He answered in the negative.

A moment later, Liam said, “Okay, but what kind of 'business' would need you to disappear for a month?” while stepping over an aerial root.

Theo glanced over to Liam.

“If you were so curious about where I was, why didn’t you call me?” He asked, turning away, trying to appear careless.

Theo turned back when he heard Liam stop walking.

“What do you mean?” Liam said. “You told me about the hunters tapping into our phones. I didn't want them to know where we were.”

Theo also stopped, and stared at Liam with a dumbfounded expression.

“When I told you that you were freaking out about the hunters and I brought it up as a distraction.” He said, raising his eyebrows to gesture that it should’ve been obvious.

Liam clearly didn’t think so. He stared at Theo incredulously.

“So that was made up? You didn’t actually believe- Why would you make such a good point if it wasn’t supposed to be taken seriously?!”

“I'm good at distractions.”

"Was any of that based on what could possibly be true?"

"Probably." Theo paused. "Did you want to call me?"

"If I did, it was only because we needed your help. Thanks for disappearing, by the way." Liam grumbled.

Theo wasn't sure why, but Liam had just told a lie.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"Cora, come in." Static.

"This is the eighth fifteen minute check-in call. Answer your handheld transceiver now. Any of you."

Argent let go of the button on the mic and looked to the live security camera footage displayed on his computer. An hour earlier Cora and her pack had appeared on it, giving him the signal that they had arrived. He watched them enter the deserted facility and hadn't given an answer since.

It was impossible that he couldn't receive a single reply, every one of Cora's pack had a handheld receiver. Whether or not they were correct in identifying the place as where the creatures were coming from, they knew every square inch of the place, and knew where they could get a better signal. Argent started to feel dread that Cora's pack had been led into a death trap, that whatever they faced was more than what they ever could have predicted.

A noise came from radio receiver.

"Hello Chris." 

Argent froze on hearing the voice. He slowly turned to it, pressing down the button for the mic.

"Lin." He said.

"Do you know why I called?" She asked. Her voice lilted playfully. Argent gripped his arm rest, his eyes burning a hole into the mic.

"I'm the one who chose the abandoned science facility. I couldn't resist. Isn't all this so sci-fi?"

"You have something to do with this? All of what's been happening?" Argent asked, his voice low and grating with anger. "What do you want?"

"I want us to meet. You and I both know how slowly things are moving at the moment. Let's pick up the pace.

Your friends aren't going anywhere."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad Theo's back? 
> 
> I have no idea how well the storyline is being set up. Please express as many criticisms as you desire!


	10. Planning

An old man stepped out of a deli downtown holding a takeaway bag. He looked up to the sky, a rolling mass of grey clouds that flashed with lightning but hadn’t let down a drop of rain since it had started that morning. He checked his watch, 2:40 in the afternoon, and decided to head off down the riverside to spend the rest of his break there.

He frowned as he approached the usual path. A little ways down he could see water swelling about, white foam swirling on the surface. He drew closer in a state of complete perplexity. It was still a while before the river. He grimaced as a dead fish washed up by his foot. 

His expression changed when he thought he saw something move beneath the surface of the water, close to where he was. He leaned forward, careful not to touch the contaminated water. He wondered if the pipes had somehow malfunctioned and the streets were now flooding with sewage.

This would not explain the size of the scaled green hump appearing on the surface, rolling smoothly until thinning out to a slick tail.

The man recoiled in horror on seeing it, but his feet remained planted were they were from foolish curiosity. Before he could come to his senses, the arrow shaped ripples started to get closer, and something broke through the surface of the water. 

The man saw a snake body, larger than his own, standing eight feet tall. He trembled as he raised his head to witness the face of the monster.

In the midst of his rising insanity, he felt his chest tighten and started to gasp, dropping his takeaway bag and scrabbled at the pocket of his musty brown jacket for his inhaler. His hands lost control as fear locked his fingers, his body becoming as stiff as though he were made of stone.

His eyelids strained to keep his bulging eyes in place as he gazed transfixed into the center face of the monster. Slimy white whiskers sprouted above its widening mouth. He gazed into it, a pit, an endless blackhole big enough to engulf his body- or just his head.

The last of his wits were lost and his frozen limbs went lip, his mind useless, as his senses were submerged in the blackness of the void and the creature's teeth snapped his neck.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

/  
Liam slowly lifted himself out of bed, rolling his sore shoulders and stretching before reaching to grab the pile of clothes he’d left on the chair nearby. It was jeans and a hoodie. He looked into the mirror across from him, staring at his reflection.

All human, if not a little sleep deprived. He stared at the hoodie clutched in his right hand. He tossed it into the wash basket and walked over to his wardrobe, picking out a normal shirt and a jacket to go with it, unzipped. 

On pulling the shirt over his head he realised that it was the one that was lent to him by Theo the last night. He lifted the collar to his nose and smelled deeply. It still smelled faintly of soap. He liked it.

It was still early, so he had time to sit and have a proper breakfast. The sun shone in through his window, lighting up his room pleasantly. He shoved his phone in his pocket, avoiding the messages from Corey. He wanted this feeling to last.

He entered his kitchen, where he was greeted by the smell of bacon. If anything was going to give away his being a werewolf, it was the way he started salivating. His mother stood by the stove, wearing an apron over her work clothes. She turned to Liam.

“Good morning.” She said, beaming.

“Bacon?” Liam asked, stepping over to the fridge to hide his animalistic reaction to what she was making.

The kitchen glowed as sun shone in through the windows. As he sat down with a glass of orange juice, his mother presented three perfectly cooked strips of bacon and an egg in front of him. 

“Thanks.” Liam said, smiling, raising his knife and fork to dig in. His appetite was enough to-

A bottle of pills was placed next to his plate. His hands seizing the cutlery froze mid air. He stared at it.

“This… this is just something to start with.” His mother said. He slowly lowered his knife and fork. The sun must’ve dipped behind a cloud, because the room had grown dimmer.

He knew it couldn’t last forever.

“I got your prescription renewed. I have proof to back up all my claims, and Mr. Dooley was kind enough to help.”

Liam let go of his cutlery, lying back in his chair. He’d lost his appetite. 

His mother sat down across from him. “Liam, I’ve seen you struggling with this before." She said. "I know that you didn’t come home last night, and I have proof that you have had outbursts. God, everyone saw what you did to that kid’s lacrosse stick.” 

His mother pushed the bottle a little closer.

“Help yourself, before you hurt anyone else.”  
/

Liam stared at the pill bottle sitting in his hand. He’d thought about what his mother had said all morning. Turning the bottle, he read the label, wondering if any of the ingredients would even work on a werewolf.

He turned his head, seeing a few girls walking by stare at him with judgement. He looked away and shoved the bottle into the bottom of his schoolbag, grabbed the books he was supposed to get and shut the door of his locker.

Corey jogged up to walk beside him.

“Tell me why we came to school again?” Liam muttered, avoiding the gaze of a group of students.

“So we don’t fail our classes. So we make it into college.” Corey replied. They went outdoors and headed toward the library. Liam slid his library card in the sensor and pushed the door open.

“Liam.” Corey said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Liam shrugged it off, turning around to face him. With a roll of his eyes Corey took his arm and led him between a stack of library shelves.

“Argent wants to meet, after school.” Corey said quietly.

“You think Argent has a better chance of finding Mason than the rest of us?” Liam replied. 

“Actually, he called me. He said to meet in his bunker at five o’clock. He didn’t tell me what it was about.” 

“We should be spending that time looking for Mason. If it's not about him, it’s a waste of time.”

They both fell silent and avoided the stare of a student who came between the library shelves to pick a book. After, Corey looked at Liam with mild disapproval.

“I think something happened to Cora’s pack.” He said. “Why else would he call us? He doesn’t come to us for anything, he knows we’re not Scott.”

Liam bit his lip, meeting Corey’s gaze. He was annoyed at being reminded that they couldn’t measure to Scott. Scott was a born leader, he always had a plan, he never lost his temper. If Scott or Stiles were there, Liam thought, whatever was behind the creatures would’ve been solved by then. Mason would've been found. He was well aware just how much of a disadvantage they were in without them.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t try to be like him.” Corey continued, reading Liam’s expression. 

“Everything’s gone to shit, Corey.” Liam said, crossing his arms. 

“Hey.” Corey said firmly. “Things are getting better. You’re totally fine today, you haven’t broken any pencils or punched out your locker door-”

“I nearly ate Theo yesterday.”

“But you didn’t. And I’m not out of control because there is nothing to control, which I’m fine with. And… Theo’s back, so he can help, as long as he doesn’t leave again." He leaned in a little. "What kind of business is he running? You know what I think? It starts with a 'D', and ends with 'ugs'. No, wait, 'rugs'-“

“Okay, going off topic.” Liam said, cutting him off, despite also having wondered what sort of 'business' Theo was talking about. He paused, a thought suddenly arising.

“Corey… Do you think we’re doing better because Mason isn’t here?” He said.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Last night, right before I went out of control, I got a call from Mason.”

“So?”

“I think that’s what triggered me.”

Corey shook his head slightly, confused. “What did he say?” He asked.

“I don’t remember. I checked my phone’s call history, it was five seconds long.” Liam watched Corey as he hesitated.

“What time did he call?” He eventally asked.

Liam pulled out his phone and went to the app, holding out his phone to Corey, who moved closer. The call time was 9:57pm. Liam watched Corey’s brow furrow.

“He was in the bathroom at that time.” He said. He leaned away from the phone, staring into Liam’s eyes. Liam nodded.

“There's something in him, and it's affecting both of us. You used to spend all your time with him. Now that he’s not here, you’re not, you know, glitching.”

Corey looked at his hands. “Just powerless.” He looked up. “So it’s agreed. He’s possessed.”

Liam made a face crossed between surprise and scepticism. “Wait, what?”

“He's been possessed before, but this is different. He’s acting uncharacteristically, he’s sharing clues in vague sentences, he’s making us react uncontrollably. He’s being used as a vessel.”

“For who? Annabelle?”

Corey rolled his eyes. “Consider it as an option.” 

Liam paused, then reached out his hand, putting it on Corey's shoulder. Corey was good at convincing himself that he was fine, but Liam knew that his anxiety was probably much worse than what he was feeling himself.

"It's okay. We'll find him." He said, unironically attempting to imitate Scott. It seemed to work, with Corey giving a little smile.

The school bell rang. Before Liam turned away, Corey called out.

“Can we go to the bunker together? I don’t know where it is.” He said pensively.

Liam nodded. “Sure. See you at lacrosse.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Theo stood in line in the sandwich isle. He lifted his hands to feel his chin, having just shaven ten minutes ago in the bathroom of the gas station next to the deli. He traced his fingers over where his since healed skin had been nicked by the blade of the cheap razor.

He looked up to meet the eye of a girl who’d been staring at him. She was ahead of him in the line. Their eyes lingered on one another, and she bit her lip. Theo returned with a forced smirk. She winked at him as she passed the line on her way to the exit.

He heard the clopping sound of her heels go around the the side of the deli, then stop abruptly. Theo frowned to himself, but turned his attention to the woman taking his order. He handed her a coupon when she named the price.

“This expired a month ago.” She said, itching her hair through the plastic shower cap. Theo took it back, gazing at the expiry date. He’d forgotten that a whole month had passed, and it was now nearly October. He sighed, digging inside his jacket pocket for a few emergency dollar notes.

Smelling the toastie handed to him made him realise how hungry he was. He pushed open the doors to the deli, holding it open for an old man behind him. He was about to head toward his truck when he heart a faint ‘ahem’. He turned, and several meters away stood the girl who’d been staring at him.

He approached her after she waved her hand. They stood around the side of the deli by the bins and ventilators. Theo looked at her expectantly.

“You’re working for Chase, aren’t you?” She said. Theo crossed his arms. 

“Let’s get this over with.” He said.

She raised her large eyes to his and flashed her luminescent werewolf colour. They were blue. Theo tipped his head sideways, motioning for her to follow him. Inside his truck he brought out a bag from under the drivers seat kept inside a makeshift compartment that was concealed by a removable layer of fabric. He reached into the bag and pulled out a little box. 

He handed it to the girl. She tugged on the string holding the lid, and using her trigger finger and thumb picked up the small glass capsule inside and held it level with her eyes. Theo warily eyed the yellow substance within.

“Don’t you have a pack, Raeken?” She asked, keeping her eyes on the capsule. 

“What’s it to you?” Theo asked, closing the bag and replacing it in its compartment.

“I’ll take that as a no.” She replied. She lowered the capsule back into the box and pocketed it while handing Theo a wad of cash.

“What are you going to do with it?” He asked, counting the notes in his hand before tucking it into his jacket pocket.

“I’m going to kill my alpha.” The girl said plainly. “While he’s dying from this,” She lightly touched her pocket. “I’m going to finish him off with these.” She displayed her claws in front of her face.

Theo reached out his hand to lower hers, looking out the windows of the truck. 

“Be careful.” He said. “This town has certain difficulties coexisting with supernaturals.”

The girl lowered her hand, placing it in her lap. She looked curiously at him.

“How did you know I don’t live here?” She asked.

“Because there’s only one pack in Beacon Hills.” He said.

“Well, Cora’s pack is here.” She said.

“Who’s Cora?”

“Um, Cora Hale, successor of Talia Hale, one of the most famous alphas ever.” She said. “And sister to that hunk, Derek.”

Theo recognised Derek’s name. He was aware of his connections to the McCall pack.

“Why would she be here?” Theo asked. The girl shrugged.

There was a period of silence. This would be the time clients usually left, but the girl leant forward, moving her face closer to his. Theo tilted his head as hers tilted the other way. She took hold of Theo’s hand and pulled it forward to hold her waist as their mouths came together. Theo’s hand tightened on her waist, slowly sliding down and dipping under her jacket.

“Chase doesn’t mind you doing a few side transactions with his clients?” She asked breathily once their lips parted. Theo used his thumb to rub a smudge of lipstick off the side of her mouth.

“How old are you?” He asked.

“I’m 20.” She said. “You?”

“19.”

They collided once more, hands reaching into hair and peeling jackets off of shoulders. A minute later, Theo’s truck could be seen departing from where it was parked and driving away with the girl in the passenger seat.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Are you wearing my shirt?”

Liam turned to face Theo, who’s sense of smell had picked up on Liam’s choice of clothing as he settled beside him. Liam rubbed the back of his neck.

“Am I? Sorry, I didn’t notice. Um... you want it back?” He replied.

“It’s okay. You can hold onto it for me.” Theo said, the edge of his mouth turning up as he looked away quickly.

Argent finally stopped pacing and stood with his hands on his hips to look at what he was working with. The only individuals present were Liam, Corey, Theo and himself. He looked down, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, his sleep deprivation and agitation evident.

“What’s with the…?” Liam said, staring at the microwave nearby, plugged in and holding the phones of all the present individuals.

“It’s so they don’t hear us.” Argent replied absent mindedly, looking at the ceiling of the bunker, his sweaty brow creased. Theo and Liam exchanged a look.

“You guys never watched _Snowden_?” Corey asked. Liam leaned forward, whispering, "Why is it plugged in?"

Argent stared intensely at those present and said, “Look, I didn’t want to involve you guys, but Cora’s team isn’t available right now and you’re all we’ve got.”

"Peter?" Liam suggested.

"With them."

“What happened?”

“Somehow Lin’s group figured out we were launching an attack on the science facility and we were ambushed."

"They're still here?" Theo asked.

"Yes, and they've had something to do with what's been happening over the past month. Lin contacted me directly and said she wants to meet tomorrow night. We need someone to represent us.”

“I’ll go.” Theo said immediately. "It's the least I can do."

“Why don’t you go yourself?” Liam regarded Argent.

“Because,” Argent explained, “If I go she’ll talk about Gerard and my affiliation with the hunters. She won’t confess to anything.”

Corey looked up. “Confess?”

“You think they want to negotiate? We have to push them to talk about something they want, make them confess on tape what they intend to do with Liam. Then all it'll take to make them leave for good is going to the FBI.”

“If they still want me, why don’t I go?” Liam said. Theo stopped leaning against the wall.

“That’s a bad idea.” He said. “You know what hunters are like. They wouldn't hesitate once they had you.”

Liam stared steadily into his eyes before Argent spoke.

“He’s right, it's too dangerous. Theo, you’re the best choice. They don’t know much about you. It's happening tomorrow."

They all heard Corey clear his throat and turned their attention to him.

"What about Mason? How are we going to find him?" He asked.

Argent moved to open the laptop sitting next him on the table he leant against and brought up a video. “Stilinski sent this to me. Said the sender was anonymous. No IP address either.”

The others, now gathered around the table, watched on in befuddlement as the occurrences of the night of September 20th in the animal clinic were shown in the video. Corey moved away to dig through his backpack as the mask was revealed.

“Okay, I agree with you now Corey.” Liam said, backing away from the screen. “Mason’s possessed. Definitely possessed.” He turned around, and jumped on seeing Corey holding up the mask.

“Oh my god.” Liam gasped, clutching his chest.

Theo pointed at the screen. “That was the same place the shapeshifter was trying to break into.”

“Now why would it want to reach the mask?” Argent said, leaning on his outstretched arms.

Liam tried to recall a memory from the previous night that would be helpful to their inquiries.

/  
“Damn it.” 

With Liam’s phone light having gone out, he tucked it into the back of his jeans. Theo, who was walking a few meters away, trudged over.

“My phone’s dead.” Liam said. 

“Can’t you see in the dark?” Theo asked.

Liam rubbed his shoulders, looking up to the moon still stationed in the sky. “I don’t wanna risk it.” He replied. “Turning again. The feeling’s still there, you know?” He pointed to Theo’s phone. “Hey, why don’t I use your flashlight and you use your eyes?”

“I cant.” Theo said, looking away.

“What? Why?”

Theo tilted his head upward. “Why do you think I’m not affected by the full moon or mountain ash?” He turned to Liam, flashing his yellow colour. “Or why my eyes don’t change colour?”

He continued to walk, and Liam was forced to follow close behind him. He reached out his hands to touch Theo’s shoulders for balance in case he tripped, but stopped himself in fear of making him uncomfortable, and started awkwardly moving his hands about in front of him. Eventually he shoved them in his pockets.

“I’m limited to what the Dread Doctors gave me." Theo continued. "I was their first experiment, so it makes sense that they left out a few key elements.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Liam asked, making an effort not to sound rude while also hiding his curiosity. 

Theo turned his head halfway. “Because I trust you.” He said. Liam was taken aback, and unsure why. Of course they trusted one another. It was shown through their countless interactions. Theo was open with him. He had proven time and time again that he had Liam’s back. On coming to think of it, Liam realised just how much Theo had risked for him. Whether it was to prove his loyalty to Scott, which Liam thought was the most likely option, or for a different motive, he was long overdue in receiving gratitude.

As he continued walking, Liam sank deeper into confusion. It was peculiar to feel this way about Theo, as if he were a friend. He thought back to the animal clinic, and went farther, back to the Munroe and her hunters. He was always able to talk him out of violence, and as far as Liam knew, he'd taught him how to be his own anchor. He stared at the ground in disbelief. How long had their relationship been like this? And more importantly, how had be never noticed?

He wasn't concentrating and bumped into Theo's chest, as he had stopped walking and turned to him. Liam immediately took a step back, raising one hand to say 'sorry'.

"You okay?" Theo asked. The moon cast a glow upon his features.

Liam avoided his eyes, trying to think of what to say. 

“Theo, I-“  
/

"This is bullshit."

Corey shoved the mask into his bag and stormed out, brushing past Liam, bringing him back to the present. Liam turned just in time to see his foot disappear from the entrance of the bunker.

"What just happened?" Liam asked, turning quickly to the others. He'd completely zoned out, having gotten lost focusing on a rather unhelpful part of his memory. The room had also suddenly become very warm.

"I'm sorry Liam, but Mason is not our priority right now. It sounds like there's a good chance he's just missing, and we will deal with it later." Argent replied. "What we have to do is deal with the hunters. Theo, you know where to meet."

He reached over and opened the microwave door, signalling that the meeting was over. Theo took his phone, then reached in and took Corey's.

"I can take that to him tomorrow." Liam said, holding out his hand. As Theo placed Corey's phone in his hand, he suddenly blurted, "Can you drive me home? I... don't have a ride."

Of course, Liam had ridden in Theo's truck numerous times before, but he'd never asked for it and for such a reason. He felt a little awkward, but Theo immediately answered with "Sure" and walked out of the bunker. 

As Argent also made for the door, Liam leaned over and said, “Please tell me there’s still a Griffin running around somewhere.”

This earned him a disapproving look from Argent. “If I didn’t know there was, I should hope that there wasn't. You’ll see, when actually you meet one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that the chapter is mainly dialogue! I'm trying to explain things the way the show does, but without visuals of the characters it's just a bunch of words. (-｡-;
> 
> I realise now after going over it how confusing the storyline is. I'll try to make it clearer as it goes on.
> 
> Also I'm so sorry about that scene in the truck with Theo haha.. perhaps he is trying to compensate for something. ...I've said too much.


	11. Preshow

Theo reached out to Corey, pressing both his bruised hands over his. A moment later black vein-like lines appeared, going up his forearms and reaching under his dirt smudged shirt sleeve. They lasted for a few seconds, through which he gave a pained wince, and by the end Corey had stopped convulsing, now lying limp but still awake, his face frozen but his eyes wide and blank. From his nose a heavy red line was drawn down the side of his pallid cheek in blood.

The masked hunters had left everything where they had placed it on the Nemeton, but the rising wind had blown out the candles and were spreading sheets of painted parchment paper across the forest ground. Not that this mattered - it was done, and what was intended had been done perfectly, all but for one detail. A few meters away from the Nemeton, an enormous snake monster lay dead.

Liam shoved his hands into his mussed hair, his shoulders rising and falling with each breath. Dirt and dead leaves stuck to the blood and sweat on Corey's bloodless face and his lips were drained of colour and slightly parted. He looked like a corpse. Liam helplessly looked back to where the hunters had been, but everyone had gone, Sadie, Cora and her pack, Mason- all had disappeared into the night.

Theo slowly bent over and raised Corey from the ground. Corey's neck was slackened, his head falling back as he was lifted, exposing his thin bluish neck to the glow of the waxing gibbous moon. He looked small in Theo's arms, hanging limp like a broken wooden puppet.

“This is all my fault,” He whispered, nearly inaudible. Theo turned his eyes to him with a look of compassion. They started to walk back to where the cars were parked, in silence but for the sound of Corey's whispers.

“I knew it wasn’t him. The moment he didn’t know where I was when I disappeared. He always finds me. It wasn't him. I should've... I should...” Corey mumbled, his expression unchanging. A single tear ran down the side of his head.

//

_24 hours earlier_

“Listen, Theo.” Argent stared at him with an intensely serious expression. He looked like an action movie character. “You have to know that if you have any secrets, there is a good chance that they know and that they will not hesitate to use it against you. You can’t let them catch you off guard.”

Theo nodded, but Argent continued. “I’m not going to ask you what they are, but I will know afterward. I need you to be fine with that.”

Theo was about to assent when he thought of an important factor. “The others.” Theo said. “They won’t hear it?”

“I’ll hear the live recording, but I can edit later versions.” Argent replied. Theo gave a final nod to confirm his compliance with the plan. He was handed an earpiece and exited Argent's car.

Following Argent's directions, he made his way around the lamp lit streets of the abandoned district. Heavy clouds blanketed the night sky, concealing the waning moon. Theo knew the area was frequented by supernaturals, but tonight the abandoned concrete city was noiseless. He walked slightly faster.

He finally arrived at the doors of the warehouse in which the meeting was to take place. A large symbol '林' was spray painted onto the metal door. He paused, lifting his head and closing his eyes, tuning his ears to the sounds within. He could only hear one or two heartbeats, scraping of the gunman's ring against the shotgun in his hand.

He was unsure what to do next, lifting his fist to knock before being forced to step back as the barrel of a gun pressed against his chest. The hireling that was behind the door continued forcing him back for a few steps, poking him with the weapon, his finger squeezing the trigger. He regarded Theo with a steady hostile look. Theo lifted both hands.

"Wait." He said, trying maintaining an air of cool. He slowly lowered his right hand to his jeans pocket and drew out a small silver bullet, silently praying the man wouldn't shoot him, which probably wouldn't be of much consequence to his boss. The mercenary lowered the shotgun slowly and allowed the bullet to be dropped into his hand for inspection. Theo gave him a wry smile.

He followed the man into the warehouse, taking a short flight of stairs that ascended to a large empty space. Besides a large rusty metal table standing nearby, there were no chairs or additional furniture. It wasn't the most impressive base camp Theo had seen.

Just as he was catching a familiar scent in the air indicating that someone he knew had been there before, the young woman standing a few meters before him cleared her throat. 

Theo regarded her with his perfected disarming approach. "No sitting, I guess?" He said with a forced smile. 

He knew the girl before him wasn't Sadie. She was too young and too defenseless. The man who'd shown him in had since vanished. Then he noticed the black circle in her ear. She was wearing a microphone.

"Hello, Chris." She said flatly, her face equally deadpan. "It's good to see you're not teaming up with high schoolers anymore. This one looks like he should be in college. Does he go? Or couldn't he leave because of whatever it is you're doing now." The girl said.

Theo reminded himself of what Argent said. Don't get personal. He was glad he didn't have to reply to the query, considering the reason was that he lacked a high school diploma. That was what he got for being in hell during the exams.

"Where's Cora?" Argent asked. 

"I think she and her friends are alive, Chris. Probably outraged, humiliated and shockingly overpowered, but alive."

Theo's eyebrow twitched into a furrow. "Where are they being kept?"

"Please." The girl said. "As if I know. I don't have anything to do with this."

It was apparent that Sadie was well aware of their plan to catch her confession. Theo gritted his teeth, waiting for Argent's next words. Before he was able to respond, Sadie continued.

"I will say, Chris, that I am disappointed. You've joined the side that you took an oath to destroy, and in doing so your family legacy is over, and your name will die with you."

"It's hypocritical of you to point out my oath, considering you've been using monsters to terrorise Beacon Hills." Theo said, his face changing into an expression of confusion and minor disbelief at what he'd absent mindedly repeated. He seriously needed a detailed recap on everything that had happened over the past month.

If Sadie had reacted, they would never know. "And on what basis did you come to his conclusion?" She said.

"We just know. And we know you have Mason. So, what is it? Some druidic spell that allows possession over creatures? I know you're not above that." Theo could hear the spite in Argent's voice, and gave his own smirk.

"I don't think Mason is possessed by anything you'd ever expect." The girl replied. "But hey. What do I know, other than quite a few things about you, Theo Raeken."

"What?" Theo said without Argent's cue.

"Theo." Argent's voice sounded in his ear authoritatively.

"I know plenty about you." The girl continued. "I know that you only bother to protect those that you care about. I know that you have had difficulty truly being a part of a group, so much so that you tried to simulate having a pack with a couple of freak teenagers with diced DNA."

"Theo, she's talking directly to you. Do not respond without my guidance." Argent said, his voice buzzing the inside of his ear. Theo could hardly hear him, breathing steadily through his nose, staring at the woman with stubborn passivity.

"You believe you have friends and you cling to them desperately, yet you hide your devotion and let them slip away. It's a cycle, a punishment, always preceded by a desperate struggle. I think it's because you feel guilt, but the guidance counsellor says it's because you're an animal and that it's in your nature. We have contrasting beliefs."

Theo froze. "Did you say guidance counsellor?" He said.

"Theo," Argent said, interrupting his line of thought. "Speak for me. Say: You're going after Liam because he's Scott's beta. Is it about getting Scott to come back?"

"Say I was coming after him. It would only be because it's what Gerard would've done." She said. "As would every hunter that knew him. Finish off the true alpha, destroy his pack. One less nuisance for everyone, and an excellent challenge, as it turns out, a real field day."

"So, why exactly are you targeting Liam?" Argent said.

"I personally have no agenda against the boy. However, if I were more than an arms dealer and did work toward cleansing the earth of these so-called supernaturals, it would make sense to target the weakness of the alpha. Just think of how quickly he'd come running home if he heard his first bite was in trouble, especially if they were as troublesome and angry as... Liam, was it?" 

Theo couldn't stop the quiet growl in his throat, so he kept his mouth clamped shut.

“Werewolves aren't human. Two nights ago we were so very close to seeing the true creature that he is. Your arrival was quite an intrusion, Theo. You may be able to control his anger, but are you able to control yours without him?”

Without waiting for Argent's response, Theo said, "Was that a threat?" His fists clenched.

"Theo." Argent said in the earpiece, his voice deep and warning. This wasn't allowed, he'd agreed he wouldn't. He just couldn't help it. He plucked the earpiece from his ear. 

"You tried to kill him that night, when you and your group jumped him. You exploded his stepdad's car right in front him. Admit it." His anger was seeping into his voice, but he maintained a stony expression as he stared at the girl. It wasn't her he was talking to, it was Sadie. "You tried to kill Liam, but your plan didn't work. "

"I know." The girl said. After a pause, she said, "It was interesting to see you like this, Theo."

"See me?" Theo said, his eyes flitting around the warehouse ceiling for a camera.

"I think I will, soon. You too, Chris."

The young woman wearing the earpiece started to approach him, brushing past him and walking down the steps. Theo watched her leave until he was left standing alone in the empty warehouse with the echo of the metallic door opening and closing. He sighed, pushing a hand through his hair, inspecting his earpiece. 

"Sorry." He said into it, before pocketing it.

Despite feeling disquieted, he smirked as he remembered something from the day before.

/  
"I have an idea of how we can win."

"Oh yeah?" Theo said, looking over. The truck was stationary by a red light on a street near the riverside. The original route had been cut off, an illuminated yellow sign saying it was supposedly due to flooding and sewage maintenance inspection. The situation, with himself at the wheel and Liam in the passenger seat, felt natural.

Liam raised his hands halfway in front of him. "Hear me out." He said. "What if the science facility is their base, or say, a fortress? What if this means we don't have to do stuff by their terms, because we have an advantage?"

"What are you getting at?"

"In the 17th century, a lot of English castles had difficulty keeping up their defences because of canons, and before that it was catapults. Instead of negotiating, we could fight our way in."

"You're suggesting we break into their base with canons." Theo said, tilting his head with a with a mock look of deep thinking while looking ahead. 

Liam looked at him with all seriousness. "I mean, we're on the outside, which gives us an advantage. We can use human techniques to beat them. It's not like we're limited to our supernatural side, we can still think like- like people. It'll be totally unexpected, and it might be the only way to get Cora and Isaac and the others back." He said. He stared at Theo with raised eyebrows, waiting for a response.

Theo shrugged. "Take it up with Argent."

"But what do you think?" Liam asked, watching him with fixed blue eyes. 

By now Theo had leaned forward to look at the traffic lights in order to conceal his widening smile. "I think it's a smart idea." He said.  
/

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— 

Driving home in Mason's car from his late shift at the bowling alley, Corey glanced at his phone to check the time, covering his mouth for a yawn. 11:30pm. He set the phone down just as it began to buzz. His thumb moved to press the decline button, but he did a double take on reading the caller ID. It was Mason’s mother. He panicked, realising that he hadn’t at all prepared for this. He knew he wasn't allowed to use his phone for calling, but he couldn't ignore Mason's mother either. After glancing from the screen to the road frantically as it continued to ring tauntingly, finally taking a deep breath, he pushed the answer button.

“Hello?” He said. He sounded meek. He wanted to punch himself.

“Corey? Have you seen Mason? He hasn’t been picking up my calls.” Mrs. Hewitt said.

Corey’s forehead wrinkled in anguish. “Mrs. Hewitt, I’m so sorry that Mason hasn’t been able to get in contact. I- I can explain-“

“Oh, don’t worry, I talked to him this morning.” Mrs. Hewitt said. “It was after our call that I got news that we have to stay for even longer, maybe even two weeks.”

“…What?” Corey said falteringly, his heart squeezing. He thought his ears had deceived him.

“I know, that’s a long time, but I talked with Mason about the idea of us staying longer and he was very convincing in telling us that he’s fine, and that he can manage himself, and how we might as well take a vacation while we’re here, and I know that you and Liam will look after him, and- Oh, I’m so sorry, I have to go. When you see him, could you tell him that it’s two weeks now, instead of one?”

Corey sat in silence with the phone barely touching his ear, in a state of shock. Countless implications had been thrown his way, and he could hardly decipher any of them, let alone decide what to do next. He was roused by Mrs. Hewitt’s voice.

“What? I mean, yeah, I’ll tell him.” He said hurriedly. “No problem. Bye, Mrs. H.”

He dropped his phone onto the passenger seat as soon as the call ended and wrung his hands on the wheel nervously, a shudder passing through his body. Among the disorienting mixture of relief, simmering anxiety and utter confusion, he had a sense of foreboding. Not only had Mason been in contact with his parents, but he had, after 17 years of effort, managed to convince them not only to stop worrying, but to stay away.

That wasn’t Mason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super late update! And thank you if you're still reading. :>


End file.
